A Great Change
by TammoWoodsorel
Summary: Draco, a Commander in the Changeling military, loses his memory while running from the queen herself. Fluttershy finds him and, with the help of Rainbowdash, she cares for him even though his very presence in Equestria is Illegal. Even against all odds, will their developing love for eachother prevail? Also... Pinkiepie makes several appearances. Enjoy! Cover Art By: Pikachu913
1. Chapter One-Pep Talk

**A Great Change: Chapter One-Pep Talk**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

It was dark even though it was a full moon. The overcast was casting a great shadow onto the lands and that is just how the team wanted it. Flying just above the cloud line, a team of twenty changelings soared quickly and without a sound. They were making their way to the place of interest that was assumed to be the resting place of their target. The changeling at the front of the platoon gave a wave with his right hoof, signaling that they were about to land and that they should follow him.

They swooped down, bursting through the cloud that they had been above. One-by-one, they landed on the dew-covered grass just outside of the Everfree Forest. They all took cover behind a large hill so as not to be seen.

"Any sign of movement?" Whispered the changeling that had been leading the group.

"None that shouldn't already be there," a changeling with binoculars whispered in reply.

Another crawled over to the two from where he had landed and inquired to his superior, "Sir, what exactly are we after in there?"

The leader quickly turned to face the speaker and put his hoof to his face as he said, "Keep your bloody voice down, private. We are here to capture an escaped criminal. The treacherous fiend questioned our very way of life in front of her majesty and ran like hell when she ordered his arrest."

The soldier looked at his superior, obviously confused, and questioned further, "_AN _escaped criminal? Doesn't it seem a little overkill to send twenty soldiers to capture a single changeling?"

The officer looked at the one with the binoculars and they both snickered amongst each other briefly before he finally turned back around to answer the private, "Well it seems that you soldiers have been ill-informed of the dangers of this mission. Very well," sighing and standing up and beginning to walk away, the he called back to the private and his companion in a hushed tone, "I think you all should know what we are up against before we head in."

All of the changelings gathered around their leader to hear what he had to say.

He cleared his throat and began to talk just loud enough for all of them to hear, "Tonight we are here to arrest a treacherous bastard who dared to insult her majesty right to her face. While there are twenty of us and only one of him, you should all be warned of this one's abilities. He is a fighter of the highest degree who has experience from many battles, be them war or street-fights. He is a tactical engineer and respected among the colleges for his ability to think rationally. As if these attributes were not enough, he also has an ability that no other changeling possesses. While we are only able to change into ponies after encasing them in our cocoons, this… thing is able to change into anything at will. He is the only known changeling to acquire a.. uh.. cu-tie-mark," he cringed and spoke through gritted teeth as he said the despicably fun word, "and it is the of his favorite form to turn into… a dragon. Prepare yourselves for a difficult fight as we will be rushing the woods in ten minutes.

With that, the officer turned and walked away, leaving the soldiers to maul over the information that they were just given.


	2. Chapter Two-A Shy Savior

**A Great Change: Chapter Two-A Shy Savior**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

The platoon of changeling soldiers were on edge during the journey to their current location and the speech that was made by their Captain did little to improve their spirits. In fact, some of them were more scared now than they had been when they had first gotten there.

The Captain looked to his Lieutenant who nodded to him in return, the ten minutes were up and it was time for him to say a few final words before they dove into the forest.

He turned to his platoon and began talking to them just loud enough for all of them to hear what he was saying, "Alright soldiers, times up and we have to get moving. Now remember, our job is only to hold him in one place and make sure he does not escape until the magic changelings arrive. For many of you, this will be your first battle as part of the changeling military. So here are a few things to remember. One, be ready for anything because he will be fighting for his life and one who is desperate will do anything to get away. Two, do not back down no matter how dire the situation may seem and as long as each one of you plays your part properly then we all should be able to come out of this with our wings still attached. Lastly, watch and follow my lead for I have the most battle experience here and will do my best to make sure this mission goes smoothly. Any questions?"

As soon as he asked, a changeling in the middle of the all of them stood up and said, "Sir, if we are just stalling for the magic changelings to get here, how come we don't just wait for them to show up before we go in?" He sat back down immediately after finishing his question.

The Captain said angrily, "We are going in now because we know that he is in there. Because he is currently running away from the law, he will not want to stay in one place for too long. We have no idea where he will go next or in what form he will go there. Our best chance of capturing him is right here and now. He is only resting and will leave as soon as he feels up to it. The sooner we get in there and keep him busy, the better." and with that, the captain turned around and signaled the lieutenant to give the command.

The Lieutenant nodded his understanding and turned to the platoon yelling, "Alright! Platoon, with me! Ready?! CHARGE!" as he drew out eh last word, half the changelings that were gathered rushed past him in a cloud of dust as they crashed through any foliage that was in their way as the other half took to the air with him and rushed to the other side of the forest to attack the target from both sides, leaving him no path of escape.

Deep in the Everfree forest, a sleeping changeling was awoken by the shouting of enemies and the crushing of bushes under-hoof. He was a small changeling that shared all their physical properties except for the image of a dragon's face and wings on his flank and the fact that his eyes, wings, and tail were a neon-green rather than the usual pale-blue. He quickly jumped to his hooves and looked up. He cursed himself for being as foolish as to not make sure he had a clear take-off area before dozing off. It could not be helped though; he had been flying for two straight days in an attempt to get away. He knew from the start that he would not be able to get away from them until he made it to Canterlot. He needed to get into a clearing as soon as possible. He quickly darted away from the sounds as fast as he could. He made a mental note that while trees provided good cover, they blocked all possibilities of getting in the air.

He allowed himself a smile as he could tell that the sounds behind him getting quieter. He made it to a clearing and his hopes of escape were dashed when he say a group of ten changelings waiting for him. In the short standoff that followed, the group of pursuers managed to catch up. The fugitive looked around and could plainly see that he was completely surrounded and not just on all sides, but there were several changelings in the air above him in case he got the idea to try to fly away from them. The thought had crossed his mind but he quickly realized that he was not going to be able to get out of this without confrontation.

The captain stepped forward yelling, "The chase is over, Draco. Now make this easier on all of us and surrender yourself."

Draco smiled and turned to address the one speaking, "Typical Lieutenant Fear, trying to avoid as much work as possible. I'm sorry to say that I do not plan on making this easy for you but, no offence, you should be thanking me. You could use the exercise."

Fear took a step back and tried to think of something witty to say as the changelings behind him chuckled as what Draco had said.

He shook himself to dismiss the sense of hurt pride and responded, his frustration clearly showing, "That's Captain Fear now, Draco. Whether you choose to put up a fight or not we are going to take you back and you will be executed for your words against the crown and…"

Draco wasn't listening, however. He knew that there was no way he was going to make it out of this situation without confrontation. So as Fear was talking, he closed his eyes and attempted to focus his energy so that he would be able to enter his dragon form, but before he could muster up the power that was required, Fear noticed what he was doing and charged him before he could do anything. Draco received a powerful blow to his side, breaking his concentration as well as a rib or two. Draco was also sent flying into two awaiting changelings that proceeded to stomp on and bite him. Draco realized he had no choice but to settle for a partial transformation. Let a surge of energy flow through him and his thin, weak tail transformed into that of a monstrous dragon. The tail itself was twice the length that he was. It was black, smooth, and had neon green spikes along the spine and jutting out the end like a spiked mace. The tail rose above, the awe-stricken changelings that were attacking him and came down with amazing speed. The stab went straight through one changeling that was on top of him, fast as lightening, and Draco took the opportunity of the other being stunned by the spectacle to jump away.

Landing back in the center of the circle of changelings, Draco stood there with a snarl on his face and the dragon tail towering above him as it still help the now dead changeling. He cringed at the pain in his side but ignored it as Captain Fear lead five other changelings in another charge. Draco spun around forcing his tail to make a wide, sweeping arc that sent the five changelings flying into the forest. Captain Fear jumped it and pressed on but, with a flick of his tail, Draco threw the dead changeling into Captain Fear. The collision knocked him off his feet and left him momentarily dazed.

The other changelings were too scared to make another attempt to fight. Draco saw this and, still not having had a chance to focus for a full transformation, transferred all the power from his tail to his wings. His tail returned back to normal but his wings grew into two large dragon wings. They were black and bat-like with a single neon-green claw at the tip where the two bones that made up the frame of the wing met.

Captain Fear looked up in time to see this terrific transformation and yelled, "Don't just stand there! Get him! He is preparing to take flight!"

Before any of them could respond to what their captain had commanded, with a huge gust of wind, he launched himself into the air. It was such a quick take off that the several changelings awaiting him in the sky could do nothing to stop him. He made a 90-degree turn heading for the edge of the forest. Being propelled by the great strength his wings granted him, he believed himself to be in the clear. What he had not counted on was the group of magic changelings arriving just in time to see him take off. At the command of their Captain, the reinforcements sent up a volley of magical bolts into the sky. Not noticing they were there until it was too late, most of the shots that were fired connected. With a great deal of magical bolts of energy hitting and blasting holes through his wings as well as a few hitting his body and head exploding on contact, he began to fall from the sky in a barely-conscious state. Upon seeing his decent, the platoon of magical changelings all focused their energy for a concentrated bolt of energy. Draco attempted to slow his fall but to no avail. The holes in his wings made it impossible for him to catch enough air to keep him suspended. He looked down and saw that he was going to land in a large body of water. He thought that he might be able to escape after all. Just as the thought crossed his mind, the magic changelings released their energy all at once, firing a huge beam of light into the air. The beam made contact with Draco about a hundred feet from the ground. He was sent flying in the opposite direction and a satisfying crash was heard by the group that had fired the bold as they all cheered and high-hooved each other. Their celebration died away when they realized that none of their flying platoon was going to retrieve the fugitive. The Captain quickly yelled that three of them go and find the crash site while the rest of them went with him into the forest to see what had happened in there.

On the other side of the Everfree Forest, near the outskirts of Ponyville, a pale-yellow Pegasus mare with a pink mane and a white rabbit were picking flowers. It was obvious that the rabbit was not enjoying himself in this activity. The mare, however, was finding immense joy in collecting flowers as she hummed to herself. She went from patch to patch, taking her time to pick the very best flowers. The rabbit found a wild onion and turned away from her as he started munching on it. The mare heard the crunching and began to walk over to the rabbit when a sudden crash was heard in the field behind her.

She turned around and looked worriedly toward the crash-site as she said in a calm and quiet voice to no one in particular, "Oh my, I hope no one is hurt over there. Come on, Angel, we should go get Twilight, or Applejack, or Pinkie, or anyone else to go see what happened."

The Rabbit was having none of that. While its master saw a dangerous scene, it saw the first form of excitement all week. It dropped the onion it had and darted toward the origin of the sound.

"Angel wait!" the mare shouted at the top of her lungs (which wasn't very loud at all).

She was very worried about her pet rabbit and could not risk having anything happen to it while she went to get help from her friends. So with no other options, she took off after it.

When she finally caught up with her rabbit at the edge of the crater, she looked down to see what seemed to her like a dying pony. With a gasp she flew down to his side and pressed her ear to his chest to listen for a heartbeat.

She gave a sigh of relief and looked up at the animals that had gathered around the crater and said, "It's ok everyone, he is still alive. He looks very hurt though." She looked at a bear and proceeded to ask, "Um… would mind terribly carrying him to my hut so I can help him. I promise that I will give you a nice treat when we get there."

That was all the encouragement that the bear needed to slide down the crater and throw the hurt pony over his shoulder. The mare watched the bear climb up the side and walk away and said, "I'm going to go help him but I would really appreciate it if you all could help Angel fill in this hole and clean up." With that, she walked past a ticked off rabbit and said, "Angel, you were so interested in the crater I figured you'd like stay here and see over the cleanup." Angel just crossed his arms and pouted as the other animals went to work cleaning up the mess that was left by the crash-landing.

Far away from the field and crash site, a wagon was being pulled down the road into Ponyville. The stallion that was pulling the wagon stopped and looked around when he thought he heard something in the distance.

The head of a navy-blue unicorn with a white mane popped out between the curtains that made the front window of the wagon asking, "Why have we stopped? The Great and Powerful Trixie does not like to be kept waiting."

The stallion sighed a deep sigh of exhaustion at the mention of that title for the thousandth time that journey and responded quite sarcastically, "Oh Great and Powerful Trixie, I thought I heard something and just stopped to see what it might be."

Not noticing the obvious sarcasm, the mare brought her head back into the wagon and yelled out, "All the Great and Powerful Trixie is hearing is the excuses of a lazy stallion that will not be getting paid a tip if he does not hurry to bring her to the next town."

The stallion continued walking as he muttered, "Trust me, I am trying to get rid of her as soon as I can."


	3. Chapter Three-Hunger Pains

**A Great Change: Chapter Three-Hunger Pains**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

It was just after noon, and the animals of Ponyville were just finishing up their hard work. They were asked to clean up the crater that had been left by the crash landing that had been made by the creature that was now in Fluttershy's care. They had spent most of the morning filling in the hole by using dirt from the side of a nearby mountain. Then, under the supervision of Angel, they had planted grass and flowers. It was now land that could not be distinguished as different from the rest of the field. Satisfied, all the animals went to their homes. Angel let out a sigh at the fact that he had wasted his whole morning there and went to Fluttershy's hut to hopefully get there in time for some lunch.

* * *

Back in Fluttershy's hut, the bear that had brought the injured creature over his shoulder was now leaving with a cooked fish in his jaws. Fluttershy shut the door behind him and quickly went over to the couch where it had been placed on the couch, lying on its belly with its head resting on the arm of the couch. She could tell that he was badly hurt and unconscious. Her urge to help all those in need was fighting with her instinct to run away from this unknown pony, but she decided that she could not let anypony who was hurt go without being treated. So she went to inspect it. She cringed at the many scratches and blood that was all over its body. She went outside to fill a bucket with water. She came back into the hut with the filled bucket clenched in her jaw and walked over to the couch. After placing the bucket on the ground, she went into the kitchen and came back with a sponge in her mouth. She proceeded to swab the blood off of its body and clean the wounds that covered it. Just as she was finishing, she heard what seemed like a groan come from the creature. She dropped the sponge in the bucket and looked at its face just as it opened its eyes.

It glanced around the room and finally rested its eyes on her, "Um… hello there. I… um… was just… uh… cleaning your wounds."

The creature cocked its head sideways and continued staring at her. Fluttershy knew that this meant that it was confused and didn't understand her. She was relieved and became a little more comfortable with the situation after realizing that it was an animal and not a pony. It sniffed the air and attempted to sit up but immediately felt pain and let out a wail. Fluttershy, knowing exactly what to do through her experience of tending to sick animals, quickly placed a hoof on its nose and applied slight pressure to it. This not only distracted the creature into looking at the hoof, taking its mind off the pain, but also got it to rest its head again.

She spoke to it calmly and slowly as she stroked its head, "Shh shh, it's ok. I know it hurts, but I promise that I will do my best to make the pain go away."

Even though it could not understand her, it was quite obviously comforted by her tone and affection. It relaxed and allowed her to begin dressing its wounds. She had no idea what kind of animal it was and was slightly worried as to how it got all the scratch and bite marks all over its body. As she was applying some bandages under its wing, it flinched in pain when she made contact.

She stopped as soon as she saw this and asked, "I'm so sorry. Did that hurt?"

When there was no response, she felt its side as gently as she could and said, "Oh my. I think you may have a couple broken ribs. I know what to do, but it is going to hurt at first. Please try to stay still and I promise that I will try my best to make it hurt as little as possible."

As she was talking she was lifting the wing with her hoof and began the slow process of tightly wrapping its middle so that the ribs wouldn't move anymore. She felt bad that the bear carrying it in might have damaged the ribs more than they had originally been.

By the time she was completely done dressing and cleaning it, it was late in the afternoon.

She stroked its head again whispering, "OK, all better. Now you need to go to sleep and rest so that you can heal…"

At the end of her sentence, she trailed off into humming a peaceful tune. Within minutes, it was sleeping with its head resting on the arm of the couch again. She backed away while looking at it and began to worry again. The creature before her looked very skinny and malnourished. She decided that when it woke up she would try to feed it something. Just as she was thinking about what to make for herself to eat, the door was thrown open. Fluttershy cringed as the sound of the door slamming against the wall and vibrated off the walls of the hut. She looked over at the creature on her couch and was glad to see that it was still sleeping. While she was looking at it, she felt a tug at her wing. When she looked down, she saw an annoyed-looking Angel with one paw grabbing her wing and the other pointing into its open mouth.

She whispered to the rabbit as she closed the door, "Oh Angel, I am so sorry that I haven't made you anything to eat yet. If you just wait a little, I promise I will make you a yummy salad for dinner."

With that, she proceeded into the kitchen to make Angel's meal. When she returned, she was horrified to see Angel trying to pull the creature off of the couch by yanking on its wing. Luckily, it didn't seem to notice and continued sleeping. Fluttershy dropped the bowl and scooped up Angel. She brought him over to where the bowl was on the floor and nudged it towards him. Angel just turned around and glared angrily at Fluttershy as he stomped his foot on the ground and pointed to the couch.

Fluttershy said, "I'm so sorry Angel, I know that's your favorite spot to sit and sleep. It is so hurt though, and I have nowhere else for it to rest." Angel pointed at the rug in front of the fireplace and Fluttershy gasped saying, "Angel, we can't make a guest sleep on the floor. Eat your dinner and you can sleep in my bed, ok?" Angel raised an eyebrow and Fluttershy continued, "Oh don't worry, I will sleep down here in my chair to keep an eye on it."

Accepting that it wouldn't be right for him to ask anything more of his master, Angel ate his dinner and climbed the stairs for the night. Just as Fluttershy blew out the candles and settled into her chair, however, there was a knock at the door. Fluttershy could clearly hear her friend, Rarity, sobbing on the other side of the door. Fluttershy opened the door and gasped in terror at what she saw. Normally, Rarity was a beautiful white unicorn with a luxurious purple mane and tale. What Fluttershy saw before her, crying on her doorstep was that very same unicorn but her mane was a swirly, puke-green, rat's nest.

When she heard Fluttershy gasp, Rarity sobbed even harder and spoke between breaths, "I know! I'm hideous! Fluttershy please! You have to help me!"

Fluttershy knew how much Rarity's looks meant to her but she didn't want to wake the creature on her couch or let Rarity see it until she knew exactly what it was. She put her hoof on Rarity's shoulder and gave her a reassuring smile. This action made Rarity stop crying and lift her head from the ground as she forced herself to smile too.

Fluttershy said, "Don't worry Rarity, I promise that I will help you fix this. If you wait over there by the pond and start washing your mane, I will come right out with soap and hair-dye."

Rarity stood up and said, "Oh, thank you ever so much Fluttershy, dear. I am deeply sorry for that little episode I had there. I should consider myself lucky to have a terrific friend such as yourself."

Rarity walked over to the pond, still hanging her head in shame, and Fluttershy sighed in relief that she did not ask to come in. She went inside, flew to her bathroom, tossed some soap and dye in her saddlebag, flew downstairs, lit a lantern, and flew down to Rarity with the supplies in her bag and the lantern in her mouth. Rarity had already started washing her main in the pond and Fluttershy just gave Rarity the toiletries as she needed them.

After two hours of constant washing, re-washing, styling, re-styling, washing again, and styling again, Rarity was finally happy with her mane and was walking down the road away from Fluttershy's hut as she yelled her many thanks behind her. Normally, Fluttershy would have invited her in and inquired as to how her friend mane got the way it was. She knew that this wasn't normal circumstances and was glad that it was late at night or Rarity might have invited herself inside to talk. Fluttershy walked inside and was glad to finally be able to sleep which she did as soon as she laid down her chair, curled up with her head resting on her fore-hooves.

* * *

Fluttershy awoke the next morning to the sound of groaning and wailing emanating from the creature on her couch. She looked at the stairs to see Angel using both paws to press his ears against the side of his head and banging his head against the wall. Fluttershy rushed to the creature's side and did everything she could think of to calm it down, but nothing worked. She took a couple steps back and was shocked to see that it looked even skinnier than yesterday. She was able to easily see its spine and ribs. She could tell that it was starving to death at an alarmingly fast rate. She went into the kitchen and brought back food pellets which were slapped out of her hands. She flew to the bathroom and came back with medicine for stomach pains, which was spat in her face. She got water from the barrel of drinking-water at the side of her house and had that spat in her face as well. With each passing minute, the crying seemed to be getting louder and louder. She was about ready to give up she noticed that it had fangs and thought that maybe it was a carnivore. She rushed to her cellar and came back with a fish, but it would not even look at it. She was out of options and had nothing else to give it. She barged out the front door of her hut, realizing that she was not going to be able to feed it what it wanted until she knew exactly what it was.

* * *

The three changelings that were sent to search for Draco were now in the location they had decided that he was likely to have landed. They had searched for the past three hours and found no sign of a crash. They knew that he had to have landed somewhere in the area, but they were perplexed as to a reason why they were unable to find a hole of some sort where he had landed.

One of the changelings looked up from the ground yelling to no one in particular, "Maybe he didn't crash here."

Another one answered, "He had to have landed here. We didn't hit him hard enough to hit him any further than this. Maybe he got up and ran away."

The first snapped back saying, "Even if he had gotten up and ran away, which I highly doubt seeing as he was unconscious after we blasted him, there would still be a massive hole in the ground where he landed."

The third one could not take any more of the arguing that had been going on since they had gotten there and yelled at both of them, "Enough! We are not going to get anywhere by fighting with each other. Obviously he didn't land here. Let us just take a linear path in the direction he fell until we see something out of the ordinary. We have to hurry too. We are supposed to bring him back alive, but with him on his own, he will quickly begin to deteriorate from the lack of energy being sent to him from her majesty."

The other two were regrettably compliant and took off. They passed right by Fluttershy's hut that was on the edge of the Everfree forest but they were headed right for Ponyville…


	4. Chapter Four-Poor Mental State

**A Great Change: Chapter Four-Poor Mental State**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Fluttershy flew as fast as she could to Twilight's house. If anyone could help her find out what kind of animal she had at her house, Twilight could. Just as she reached the front door, Fluttershy stopped and thought for a moment. What if the creature that she had in her care ended up being dangerous? It would make sense since she found it covered in battle wounds and it had fangs like a carnivore. If it was a dangerous creature, then Twilight might ask her to get rid of it. As much as it would kill her to let a hurt animal go, Fluttershy knew that she would not be able to go against her friend's wishes. She figured that if she was going to be able to look after it, then she would not be able to tell her friends about until she felt that it was completely safe. If it was a dangerous creature, then she would just have to train it so that it learned not to hurt anyone. Fluttershy nodded to herself, deciding that this would be the best course of action. Just as she was about to knock on the door, she realized that she wouldn't even be able to ask for a book. If she did, Twilight would become curious as to what she was doing and try to find out what was going on. She shook off these thoughts, she knew that she would have to go in there and figure something out.

She knocked on the door and Spike, a baby purple dragon, answered the door saying, "Oh, hey there, Fluttershy. Come on in." As they walked through the house, Twilight could be seen angrily turning the pages of a book and Spike said as they passed her, "If you are coming to see Twilight, she is kind of upset right now. Maybe I can help you?"

As he said this, Fluttershy lit up at the idea. If she asked Spike for the book, then everything would be ok because Spike was too lazy to put in the effort to figure out what was going on.

Fluttershy said, "Oh yes please. I was wondering, if it isn't too much trouble, if you could get a book for me."

Spike yawned and said, "Yeah sure, what book do ya need?"

Fluttershy said, "Um… I think it is a green book titled _Equestrian Creatures_."

Spike didn't even ponder for a moment and climbed a ladder. He grabbed the book in question and tossed it to Fluttershy, who caught it in her mouth, as he walked to the door saying, "There ya go. I'm gunna go get some breakfast."

Fluttershy eagerly flew through the doorway before the door closed and raced home. The Crying had gotten much louder and could be heard down the road from Fluttershy's hut. She got into the house and immediately started flipping through the pages of the book. It didn't take long for her to find information about the creature. She found it strange that while most of the animals in the book only had a single page, maybe two, dedicated to them, this creature had an entire chapter full of information on it.

She started reading out loud to herself, "The Changeling is a feared breed of pony that lives in hiding due to its looks and reputation. The Changeling is an intelligent creature that lives in cities underground, away from the public eye. The reason they were originally excluded from most pony societies is attributed to their source of sustenance. The Changelings feed off of the love of another creature. Normal circumstances such as being part of a family of Changelings or having a group of pony friends, give the Changeling enough love to survive. Changelings are also able to gain sustenance from their queen. If their queen obtains a surplus of love, then she is able to spread the energy to her subjects. The trait that really sets Changelings apart from most ponies is their ability to transform into other ponies. This process can only be done by wrapping the one whom they wish to transform into in a cocoon to absorb their features, or by being given enough energy by the queen to mimic the features of ponies that they see in front of them. This ability first became a problem when the Changelings got greedy for more power, and began foalnapping ponies and taking their place in their families to receive the love that they were getting. While an excess amount of energy is needed to transform, there is also a minimum amount of love that must be attained or the Changeling will begin to deteriorate…"

There was more in the chapter but Fluttershy stopped reading there, because she got the information she was looking for and the crying stopped. She looked worriedly at the Changeling and saw that it wasn't dead but it was now too weak to cry. It seemed like each breath it took was a struggle.

She approached it slowly talking to it, "Is that all you needed? Was a little love? Well don't you worry, because I have plenty of love to share with everypony."

She carefully wrapped her hooves around it, embracing it in a tender hug. She was satisfied when she began to feel it getting thicker in her hooves. It got too heavy for her to hold anymore, so she placed it back on the couch. While it seemed to be doing better, it still looked like it was in pain. Not knowing what else to do, she leaned in and gently kissed it on its forehead. She was blown backwards by a surge of energy. When she looked back at the couch, which was now on the ground, she was surprised at what she saw. Standing there, looking around curiously, was what looked like a jet black pegasus stallion with solid neon-green eyes, mane, tail, and fangs(Fluttershy did her best to ignore the fangs). He even had a gray cutie mark on its left flank in the shape of a dragon head with dragon wings behind it. When she stood up, he instantly flew to and inspected her.

She was scared but managed to get out, "Uh, hi there."

He stepped back and cocked its head sideways just like before. She was puzzled by this and he just watched her walk to the book that was still open on the floor.

She looked at it, slowly shaking her head, saying, "It says that you are a breed of pony and that you are intelligent. How come you can't understand me?"

He walked over to the book and copied her motions then looked at her and said, "Understand me?"

This just confused Fluttershy even more and she said, "Yes, understand. Can't you understand?"

It just stared blankly at her and copied her, "Understand?"

She tried something else, "Um… my name is Fluttershy," as she stated this, she pointed to herself.

He copied her movement, pointing to himself, and repeated, "Fluttershy."

Fluttershy shook her head saying, "Oh no no no, I'm Fluttershy," she pointed to herself again.

This time he managed to point to her and said, "Fluttershy."

She smiled and said, "Yes, now who are you?"

He just cocked his head again. Fluttershy just sighed. Then, she had an idea. Now that he looked like a stallion, she could take him to the hospital.

She walked backwards, guiding him out the door, and said calmly, "Come on with me. I promise we will get you all better."

* * *

Now in the doctor's office, Fluttershy waited patiently as the doctor examined the Changeling. Every time the doctor attempted to administer a new test, the Changeling would resist and it would take a reassuring nod from Fluttershy to get him to settle down. So it was a very slow process. Eventually, the doctor was ready to speak to Fluttershy about his diagnosis.

He turned to her and spoke as he read off the clipboard he had been jotting notes on the entire time, "Well, physically, he seems perfectly healthy. Aside from the massive overbite and his incredibly dilated pupils, he is fine. Now as to his mental state, I am afraid that is a whole nother story. He is full grown, but has the mental capacity of a philly. He won't calm down and shows no common sense. He also seems to be experiencing migraines. All of these symptoms point to one thing, amnesia. Where did you say you found him?"

Fluttershy was lost in thought as she processed the information she had just been given and was snapped to reality by the question, "Oh… um… he was in a hole at the edge of the Everfree forest."

The doctor nodded and continued, "It is likely that he hit his head at some point and was knocked unconscious. The blast to his brain caused head trauma, which lead to him losing all of his memory. Do you know him?"

Fluttershy immediately began to weigh her options. If she told him that she did not know him, he would be left at the hospital to be cared for. This would free her of all responsibilities and clean her hooves of this mess. Or she could lie and say that he was very close to her so that they would release him to her and she would be able to care for him herself. If she did this then she would be able to fulfill her mothering need to care for him.

Within a second, she had her answer, "Uh…yes, he is um… my special somepony that uh… moved in with me recently."

Fluttershy surprised herself at being able to come up with a story like that. The doctor took no notice of her pauses since she seemed to do that in all her sentences.

He quickly grabbed a pen from his shirt pocket in his mouth and scribbled onto a piece of paper, then spat it out and said, "Take this to the front desk. What I advise is that you just live your normal life with him and hopefully something you do will jog his memory. If a couple of months pass and he is still like this, we are going to have to admit him to special care because then it would be quite possible that he stays like this for the rest of his life. Don't worry though, that is very unlikely to happen. Most amnesia patients have their memory return to them within the two months."

He stood there holding the paper in his mouth for a couple seconds before Fluttershy realized that he was waiting for her to take it.

She said, "Oh… um… thank you very much for your help, sir."

She took the paper in her mouth and walked to the doorway. From there she turned and looked at the Changeling, who had become distracted with chewing on the pillow that was there. He seemed to sense that she was looking at him and looked up, with the pillow still in his mouth, and she gestured for him to follow her. He tossed the pillow aside and began to walk with her.

The doctor just stared questioningly at the doorway after they had left and said, "Ugh… I need a vacation."

* * *

Just when Fluttershy was about to lead him home, she realized that she needed to go shopping. She began to decide whether or not it would be a good idea with the Changeling trailing her. She looked behind her to see that he had stopped as well and was sitting down as he stared at the sky. As if he could feel her looking at him, he snapped out of his trance and changed his attention to her. She gestured him to follow, which he obediently obeyed, and she decided that as long as she stuck to the story that she told the doctor then everything would be fine.

As they were walking down the road, she saw Snips and Snails running toward her. They were two unicorn colts, one being short, stubby, and a very pale-green with an orange mane while the other was tall, skinny and was orange with a pale-green mane. They were moving too fast to stop suddenly to avoid running into her and apparently couldn't figure out how to change the direction of their running. So Snips, who was in front, started skidding in an attempt to stop. Fluttershy saw that he was not going to stop in time and lifted herself off the ground with her wings just high enough to avoid collision. She looked behind her and was impressed to see that the Changeling had copied her actions and started hovering as well. Once Snips finally stopped, Snails ran into him and the stumbled into a heap with one on top of the other.

Fluttershy flew to them and started helping Snips up saying, "Oh my, are you two ok?"

The changeling, still mimicking Fluttershy, helped Snails up as Snips responded, "Sorry Miss Fluttershy, We are in a bit of a hurry. We have a special mission. Come on Snails we're wasting time."

Snails hopped to Snips side and said, "Duh… okay Snips, ready when you are." and with that, they took off running down the road.

Fluttershy was a little worried because the only thing that the road they were taking led to was the Everfree forest, but she figured that they knew what they were doing. She began trotting toward the shopping area to make sure that she got there before all the stalls closed. She checked to make sure that the changeling was keeping up and he was trotting right behind her. Fluttershy allowed herself a smile. She was beginning to like having him follow her.

* * *

Deep in the Everfree forest, Snips whispered to Snails, "Where do you think we would find an Ursa Major?"

Snails responded, "Uuuuuh... beats me, Snips.. Didn't The Great and Powerful Trixie say something about banishing it to a cave or something?"

Snips said excitedly, "You're right, Snips! Let's go find us a ginormous cave!"


	5. Chapter Five-A True Gentlecolt

**Alright guys, here's a little message from me to you. Well, this is more of a promise. Ehem… I, Tammo Woodsorel, solemnly swear over my copies of seasons 1-3 of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic" that if I plan to sleep in my own bed in my own house, I will never do so without first posting a new chapter. Even if I must pull an all-nighter to finish writing it, it will get done. Now, with that out of the way, I have some bad news for you. I am an avid camper that will take one weekend each month (at least) to head into the forest and enjoy the peace and quiet away from the city. This weekend being one of those weekends, obviously I will not be sleeping in my own bed in my own house. So do not be expecting a new chapter until Sunday evening. Once I get home I will be back to my regular schedual of posting one-a-day. Now, without further ado, here's chapter five.**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Five-A True Gentlecolt**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Fluttershy stopped a few minutes away from the market place. She turned around to get a good look at her new friend. She wanted to make sure that his looks didn't raise any suspicion. He looked like a very handsome stallion, an example of the perfect pegasus… except. His eyes were a solid neon-green and he had fangs. Fluttershy decided that his eyes were ok because she thought that they made him look kind of cute, they reminded her of the eyes that she gets from the animals back at her hut. She frowned, the fangs had to go. They looked very frightening and would definitely raise some questions.

She walked over to him and said very politely, "I'm so sorry, but could you maybe hide your fangs please?"

He just blinked and stared at her. So she tried a different approach. If he copied all of her movements, then maybe she could get him to get rid of them by making actions. She smiled, showing her teeth, and he did the same. While her smile was warm and friendly, his was menacing and scary. She pulled her lips over her teeth. He attempted to do the same but his lips just were not big enough to cover his fangs. She watched as he closed his eyes and looked as if he was concentrating really hard. She started to worry that he might hurt himself just when the fangs began to shrink into his mouth until they were completely gone. She smiled but quickly turned it into a frown when she saw that he was utterly exhausted, breathing heavily. She remembered that she had read in the book that in order for a Changeling to transform, they needed to get love-energy from their queen. Fluttershy didn't think of herself as his queen, but if it worked before, then she would try to do it again. So Fluttershy walked up to him and put her head under his, then lifted his head using hers. She continued to rub the side of her neck against his, affectionately, as she had seen couples do before and was relieved when she felt is breathing become steadier. She backed off and looked at him. He returned her gaze and looked happy. She couldn't help but smile at his simple joy. She made herself a mental note that all she had to do to keep him healthy was do things with him that showed him her love. She thanked Celestia that she was the one to find him, because she was the perfect pony to give love to a helpless animal.

They arrived in the market place with more than an hour left to spend shopping. The first thing she did was buy some new saddlebags. She decided that if he was going to live with her, then he would need his own so that he could help her collect flowers. Now came the hard part. Fluttershy had to buy food and supplies for all the animals under her care. It was a good thing that the mayor was so understanding of her job and gave her an allowance to cover everything she needed for the animals. Even with everything being paid for though, her saddlebags were always filled to the brim and very heavy by the time she finished.

About half an hour into her shopping trip, the Changeling still trailing behind her, she dropped a couple melons into her bags and cringed as the added weight took its toll. The Changeling could not bear to see her in pain, so he forced his nose underneath the strap on the saddlebag and allowed it to slide down his neck to fall into place on his back. Fluttershy was in the process of paying when she felt the weight being lifted off her back and the relief was so great that a warm smile found its way onto her face. She turned around and almost giggled at the sight of the Changeling wearing the pink saddlebags that she had bought.

The pony behind the counter said, "What a gentlecolt. How nice of you to carry her bags for her. Fluttershy, you didn't tell me you had a special somepony."

The statement snapped Fluttershy out of looking at the Changeling as she remembered the oddity of the situation and responded, "Oh yes. I um… just met him recently. Uh… um… I have to go now. Um… thank you very much for the fruit."

Fluttershy walked away as quickly as she could. The pony behind the counter just shrugged and moved on. It was normal for Fluttershy to be bashful and dodge questions, so she thought nothing of it.

The rest of Fluttershy's shopping went smoothly, and she found it much easier to buy the goods and give them to the Changeling. She taught him to put what she gave him into the bags. After an hour, the stands started closing down. Fluttershy and the Changeling were on their way back to her hut and Fluttershy was humming a sweet tune to herself. The Changeling followed closely and was walking in step to the tune. He quite liked the sound of it.

* * *

Rainbowdash, a cyan pegasus mare with a rainbow mane, was lying on a cloud above the road to Fluttershy's hut. She sighed and rolled onto her back to stare at the changing sky. She was late. Fluttershy had always come home from her shopping just as Rainbowdash was finishing her weather duty, but she had been waiting there for almost half an hour and still no Fluttershy. Rainbowdash enjoyed watching Fluttershy walk down the road and listening to her as she hummed and sometimes sang to herself. Rainbowdash just loved the sound of Fluttershy's voice. She couldn't explain it but it made her feel relaxed and happy. She could almost hear Fluttershy humming as she came down the road, just like she always did. Rainbowdash surprised herself as to how well she could remember Fluttershy's humming. Then she realized that Fluttershy was actually there and walking home. Calmly, Rainbowdash flipped over to look at Fluttershy and just after she did, her good mood was shattered to pieces. Rainbowdash had never felt this way before, she was angry, sad, and disappointed all at the same time. There was Fluttershy, walking next to a good-looking pegasus stallion, as happy as could be. He was not only walking there next to Fluttershy, enjoying the music that was meant for Rainbowdash's ears only, but he was also carrying her bags. Rainbowdash tried to control her breathing and calm down. She tried to convince herself that maybe he was just being a gentlecolt, helping Fluttershy with her bags and would head home after saying goodbye. She watched in horror and her heart sank when she saw them turn the corner together. There was no denying it. The only thing down that path was Fluttershy's hut. Rainbowdash was torn, because there were only to options as to what to do in her mind. She could either fly down there and demand an explanation or follow them and see exactly what they were doing. She decided to just follow them. She wanted to trust Fluttershy's innocence. Maybe he was just going to carry the bags all the way to her door and then leave. Rainbowdash grabbed the cloud she was laying on firmly and used her wings to move it slowly to follow them.

* * *

Fluttershy and the Changeling could now see her hut ahead of them. They were almost to the foot of the hill that her hut was on when they felt something. The ground under their hooves was shaking. Each passing second brought another wave of movement through the earth. She thought that maybe it was an earthquake. She quickly dismissed the thought. In all of her years in Ponyville, never once did Fluttershy experience or even hear of an earthquake happening. She continued to think and the only thing that popped into her head was a stampede. She was about to dismiss that thought too, all the stampedes around there always originated from Sweet Apple Acres, the sound was coming from behind her hut, and the only place behind her hut was… the Everfree Forest! She began to shake as she thought. All kinds of terrible monsters lived in the forest. She really didn't want to find out what horrible creature was making the very ground tremble. She was about to run into her hut, but she froze in place. She was unable to move out of total fear. Standing behind her hut, but still managing to tower over it, was a massive see-through bear of blue that could only be an Ursa Minor. While Fluttershy went into a crouching position with her hooves over her head, the Changeling just stared at the giant bear in front of him. He was interested in the size and obvious power of the animal. He wanted, deeply, to be like that. He didn't know what to think except that he felt like he was meant to be that powerful.

The bear stepped over Fluttershy's hut and looked at the too little forms that stood in its path, blocking it from giving chase to the two ponies that woke it up. In an attempt to scare them from its path, it let out a frightening roar as a display of power. It looked down and was surprised to see that both were still there. The Changeling continued to stare at the awesome beast, while Fluttershy was still too scared to move from her spot.

Fluttershy began to whisper rapidly, "Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me. Please don't hurt me."

The Changeling looked down at Fluttershy and was immediately enraged that this creature had the nerve to strike fear into this mare's heart. The changeling nudged the bag off of his back. Hearing the bag fall next to her head, Fluttershy peeked through the hooves that were covering her eyes. She was surprised to see the Changeling standing in front of her, directly between her and the Ursa Minor.

The Ursa Minor saw one of the forms advance toward it and stand in a stance of defiance. It took this as a challenge and stepped forward, but stopped as something strange began to happen. The form in front of it began to grow and as it grew, its shape changed and shifted. Now, standing in front of it was the form of an animal it recognized. It had watched its mother, the Ursa Major, force one out of the cave that they were now living in. It stood face-to-face with a full grown dragon. This dragon looked fierce and evil. It was huge, sleek and jet black. The only other color on it was neon-green in its eyes, spikes on its back and tail, claws, fangs, and talon on the point of each wing. This was the first time an animal, other than its mother, towered over it. The dragon let out a roar that made the bear's sound like a mouse trying to roar at a hawk. It shrunk under the gaze of the dragon but it still wanted to go after the two ponies that woke it up. So, in the most non-threatening way it knew how, it made a slight arch around the dragon and took off in the direction that it saw the two ponies running.

The Changeling shrunk down to its appropriate size and entered the malnourished form it had been in that morning.

* * *

Rainbowdash just watched, speechless. Sure, the Ursa Minor was kind of scary and the dragon was pretty scary, but what Rainbowdash saw now was her worst fears being realized. She saw Fluttershy run over to the now collapsed stallion, hold him in her hooves, and kiss him on the forehead!

* * *

Fluttershy calmed down a little as she watched the Changeling get bigger and stronger right before her eyes.

She was startled to hear a familiar voice call out to her, "What the hay do you think you're doing Fluttershy?!"


	6. Chapter Six-A Dashing Plan

**Alright guys, it's 10:00 PM on Sunday. I am finally showered, unpacked, and relaxed. I thank you all for your patience and understanding. Hope you enjoy chapter six!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Six-A Dashing Plan**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

"What the hay do you think you're doing, Fluttershy?!"

Fluttershy turned from the Changeling to see her friend, Rainbowdash, flying toward her very angrily.

Rainbowdash landed with a thud and immediately began her interrogation, "Well? Aren't you going to explain, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy was scared speechless. Her only friend from flight school was questioning her about something that she was not ready to tell any of her friends about. She had been hoping that she would be able to avoid this conversation for much longer to maybe find out a little more about her new guest. For some reason, Fluttershy could not bring herself to tell Rainbowdash the same story that she had told the doctor. She couldn't explain it but she just did not want Rainbowdash thinking that she had found a special somepony.

Fluttershy was shrinking under Rainbowdash's questioning glare. Rainbowdash gave up, knowing that she wasn't going to get anything out of her like this. She turned to the stallion that had gotten up and proceeded to shake the dust off of itself. When a dust cloud formed around him, he gave a curious look around, sniffed the cloud, and sneezed. Rainbowdash raised an eyebrow. This stallion was acting like a filly.

She marched right up to him and said sternly, "What's your business here, huh?! You think that you can just carry Fluttershy's groceries for her and you have a sure thing?! Well is doesn't work like that buster!"

Rainbowdash couldn't think of why she was so upset, but at that moment, she couldn't care less. All she needed to know was that she was very angry and it was because of this mysterious stallion.

When the only response she received was a blank stare, she just got angrier and said, "What's the matter with you? Don't you have anything to say for yourself?"

She wasn't yelling anymore. Rainbowdash was on the verge of tears for some reason. Just when she was about to turn away, the stallion cocked his head to the side as if he could not comprehend a word she was saying.

"Stop looking at me like you don't understand. I know you understand."

At this, the Changeling's ears perked up. He knew exactly what to do now. Fluttershy had taught him how to do this, that very morning. He was now about to apply what he learned…

He walked up to Rainbowdash (who was looking at the ground to hide her tears), used his hoof to lift her head up, made her look at him, pointed to Fluttershy (who was standing up behind him now), and said, "Fluttershy!" very excitedly.

Rainbowdash raised an eyebrow again, looking at Fluttershy and then at him, the tears had stopped now but there was still moisture on her face. Just as she was about to say something about how weird he was acting, the giant blue bear from earlier hovered over-head as it sipped milk out of a water tower. The three of them watched as it disappeared into the Everfree Forest.

The Changeling was about to give chase to the floating bear, but Fluttershy stomped her hoof on the ground and after hearing that sound the Changeling stopped and sat down.

Fluttershy, having gotten control of the Changeling, looked worriedly at Rainbowdash, "Rainbowdash, you're crying."

At this statement Rainbowdash took a step back, wiper her face with her hoof, and said hurriedly as she glanced around, "I'm going to go see what happened in town."

She quickly leapt into the air and stopped just long enough to yell behind her, "Don't think this is over! I'll be back in a little bit, and I'll be expecting answers, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy watched the rainbow trail behind Rainbowdash as she flew away.

Fluttershy began walking toward her hut saying, "Come on, we have some tea to make and a book to skim through."

* * *

The Changeling and Fluttershy were sitting at her table. The changeling was watching as the steam rose from his tea while Fluttershy read through the chapter about Changelings in _Equestrian Creatures_, trying to figure some things out before she had to talk to Rainbowdash about something that she barely knows anything about. There was already a place set for Rainbowdash at the table. There was a knock at the door and Fluttershy instantly got up to answer it. She had decided that she would tell Rainbowdash everything. Out of everypony, Rainbowdash was the last person Fluttershy wanted to lie to. They had been friends since they were little and Fluttershy definitely did not want to ruin that.

Fluttershy opened the door and said, "Rainbowdash… please um… sit down and have some tea."

Rainbowdash was in a little bit more of a stable mood but still responded grumpily, "I don't drink tea, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy closed the door and said, "Well um… uh… please just sit down at the table and I promise I will explain everything."

Fluttershy caught up with Rainbowdash, who had stopped at the doorway to the kitchen, and they both looked at the Changeling at the table. He was, very cautiously, sniffing the tea in front of him. Angel, who had been stealing cookies from atop the cabinet, saw Fluttershy and jumped down to get away before he could be yelled at. When he jumped down, he landed on the Changeling's head which made him shove his nose in the tea. He pulled his head up and looked cross-eyed at his nose. He then went on to begin the slow process of licking the tea off of his nose.

Rainbowdash found herself raising an eyebrow again and looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy just smiled awkwardly to Rainbowdash and gestured for her to sit down. Fluttershy sat down opposite to her and began to tell Rainbowdash everything that had happened to her since the morning before.

* * *

After Fluttershy had finished relating all of the happenings since the previous day, Rainbowdash was flipping through the pages of _Equestrian Creatures_. She hadn't interrupted Fluttershy at all and there was a long silence afterward as Rainbowdash tried to fill in the holes with the information in the book. The silence was finally interrupted by the sound of the Changeling taking a long slurp from the cup of tea, for he had just figured out how to use the cup. Even after the cup was empty, he continued to hold it in his mouth and lean back to try and get more to come out. Eventually, He leaned too far and fell off his seat. The cup broke on the floor.

Fluttershy said, "Oh dear, we'll have to work on that."

She began sweeping the crushed glass out the side door as the Changeling flipped over and watched her intently.

Rainbowdash waited for Fluttershy to sit back down before she slammed her hooves on the table, making both Fluttershy and the Changeling jump from surprise, and exclaimed, "Alright! I'll help!"

Fluttershy was puzzled by this statement and said, "Why… uh… What do you mean?"

Rainbowdash puffed out her chest and said, "I'm going to help you get him back to normal, of course. With you and me tackling this problem together, we'll get it done in no time."

Fluttershy looked at the ground and said, "Oh, I don't know. I mean… if it isn't too much trouble…"

Rainbowdash cut her off, "No trouble at all. In fact I've already got a plan."

Fluttershy just looked up and asked, "A plan?"

Rainbowdash began walking to the front door as she continued, "Yeah. You do what you can during the day, but you have to take care of business and things you can't get done with him following you around. So after I finish cloud duty, I'll swing by here and take him off your hooves."

Rainbowdash was on the other side of the threshold now and Fluttershy attempted to reason with her, "Oh, that's very nice of you but I don't think…"

Rainbowdash cut her off again, "Then it's settled, see you tomorrow," and she slammed the door before Fluttershy had enough time to protest again.

After the door was closed, Rainbowdash jumped with excitement. She now had a reason to come and visit Fluttershy every day. She took off for her house, unable to contain her excitement for the days to come.

* * *

Fluttershy sighed to herself after the door had shut. There was no changing Rainbowdash's mind after it had been made up. After thinking about it for a moment though, Fluttershy actually found enjoyment in the thought of working together with Rainbowdash to help a pony get better. She stopped at that thought and looked at the Changeling as he tried to use the broom like she had done. It was strange to her. She wasn't thinking of the Changeling as an animal anymore. She was now referring to him as a pony. She figured that it was only fair since he had saved her life from the Ursa Minor. That thought made her freeze as well. The handsome pegasus that was standing in her kitchen had turned into a dragon, and she was terribly afraid of dragons. She decided that it was ok as long as he changed back into this form.

She walked over and took the broom from him, putting it away, and said, "Ok, time for bed."

She had led him into the living room when she saw Angel peacefully sleeping on the couch. She had forgotten again that Angel slept on the couch. Deciding that there were no other options, Fluttershy began leading him up the stairs. When they reached her bedroom, she patted on the bed. The Changeling instinctively jumped up onto the bed and looked to Fluttershy for approval. She was sort of worried about this situation but in her mind, it was all reasonable and justified. First, he had the innocence of a philly. Second, he would need to be close by anyway, in the morning, so that she could show him love and keep him from groaning. Third, she would be sleeping under the blankets and, from the looks of it, he was content with sleeping on top of them. She got under the blankets and lay down. He lay down as well. She closed her eyes to sleep but felt his gaze on her. She opened her eyes and was not surprised to see him still staring at her.

She whispered to him, "Ok, it's time to go to sleep now."

His only response was a blink of the eyes. She thought for a moment about how she had gotten him to sleep the night before. Then she remembered that she had sung for him. She turned over to face him and began to sing a lullaby, softly. His eyes began to droop and he quickly was overtaken by sleep. She fell asleep soon after. She had a smile on her face as she slept. She felt like she could get used to this. It was peaceful, sweet, and it made her happy to have him with her…

* * *

The three Changelings that had been on Draco's trail finally made it to Ponyville. They had been searching the town for an hour now and were meeting up with each other just outside of it.

One spoke up, "First we couldn't find any craters, now we are finding holes in every damn direction we look. What the hell is going on around here?"

Another one answered, "Well it looks like there was a battle fought here. He probably landed here and they fought him."

The first one asked, "Do you think they killed him?"

The third one answered, "There's no way regular ponies could kill that monster. He probably died during the battle though," at his companions confused stares, he sighed and continued, "A Changeling cannot survive more than four weeks without a supply of energy from the queen or swarm. He has been on the run for over a month now. He was weak when we caught up to him and that transformation only sped up his deterioration process. If he was changing forms to fight off the ponies here, then he probably deteriorated completely mid-battle."

The second one that had talked said, "Well then we had better head back and report the death of Draco. The higher-ups are not going to like this, though. They wanted us to take him alive."

The other two nodded in agreement and the trio set off toward the Everfree Forest.


	7. Chapter Seven-Dragonshy

**Chapter Seven-Fluttershy**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Fluttershy awoke the next morning feeling refreshed. She turned over and was slightly startled to see the Changeling staring at her questioningly.

She just smiled and whispered, "Good morning, I hope you slept as well as I did," she waited a moment to see if he responded and when he didn't, she continued, "Well we had better get going, there is so much to do today."

She crawled out of bed and the Changeling jumped from the bed and landed by the door, waiting for Fluttershy. The changeling had actually woken up at the crack of dawn for reasons that were unknown to him and quickly got bored waiting for Fluttershy to wake up. He had tried to exit the room on his own but there was quite a challenge blocking his way. He could not figure out how to open the door. He had seen Fluttershy use a door several times the previous day, but had not been paying attention. So he could not remember how to do it. He had been sitting in front of it, trying to figure out how to get it open, until he heard Fluttershy stir in the bed. He jumped onto the bed and resumed his wait for her to arise from her slumber so that she could show him how to use the door.

Fluttershy found his excitement about leaving the room sort of strange, but proceeded to the door anyway. The Changeling watched intently as she put her hoof through the handle and pulled the door open. She jumped as the Changeling lunged through the open doorway with excitement. She did not realize that his happiness was due to the fact that she had just solved a problem that had stumped him from the break of dawn. The Changeling jumped down the stairs and Fluttershy rushed to the handrail to see what he was doing. She shook her head slightly and giggled to herself when she saw him opening and shutting the front door repeatedly. The Changeling looked up at her and seemed overjoyed at the sight of her happiness. He puffed out his chest and continued to open and close the door as Fluttershy walked down the stairs, which made her giggle even more. She put her hoof on the door to stop him from opening it again and gestured for him to follow her into the kitchen. She was very happy even though it was early in the morning. She found it strange, because normally not even Pinkiepie could make her laugh this much

Angel let out a sweet sigh of relief that she stopped him from making so much noise by slamming the door. He jumped back onto the couch to return to his sleep but his ears perked up as he heard his food being poured into his bowl. He licked his lips and hopped to the table in the kitchen where he excitedly took his seat. He raised an eyebrow at the stallion sitting in the corner of the kitchen, watching Fluttershy as she fed Angel and cleaned up.

The Changeling did not want a repeat of what happened that morning. He was going to absorb as much information as he could from Fluttershy so that he knew exactly what to do when the situation arose. He felt compelled to do so because every time he had shown off something that he had learned as of late, he had brought enjoyment to the pony that has been taking care of him and her friends. When he first pointed to her and said Fluttershy, she had smiled. When he had taken the bags from her, she and her friend smiled. When he had put stuff into the things on his back, she seemed so happy. When he pointed to her and said Fluttershy a second time, her other friend stopped crying. When he opened the door this morning, Fluttershy laughed. He had no idea why, but he got this great feeling whenever he saw their smiles. He was determined to learn all that he could to make them smile more.

Once Angel had finished eating and left, she poured some lettuce into a bowl and topped it with some slices of tomato and carrot. She took her seat and began eating her breakfast. She felt kind of weird, eating at the table while the Changeling sat in the corner and watched her. Then a thought hit her.

She pointed with her hoof at the ingredients on the counter, "Why don't you make something for yourself?"

The Changeling looked to where she was pointing and slowly, as if intimidated, walked to the counter. He was not sure if he was ready for this. He gingerly pulled himself up on his hind legs and took the bag of lettuce in his mouth just as she had done. He tilted his head and shook the bag. He was delighted to see the bowl fill up with the green leaves. He was a bit more confident now as he put the bag back once he had filled the bowl the same amount as she had. He then took the bag of tomato slices and the bag of carrot slices and carried out the same procedure. He next grabbed the bowl in his mouth and brought it over to where he had sat the previous night. He sat down, placed the bowl on the table, and then looked to Fluttershy for approval.

Fluttershy was glowing with happiness. She had been right with her assumption. She had guessed that he was watching her because he was trying to learn how to do things. She dipped her head into her own bowl and plucked a leaf of lettuce, then chewed it as she looked up at the Changeling. He looked questioningly at his bowl and did the same thing. He seemed to be delighted at the taste of the lettuce and, after swallowing that leaf, shoved his entire face into the bowl. Fluttershy just stared.

Feeling her gaze on him, the Changeling looked up from the bowl with a mouth full of leaves. He didn't like the look that she was giving him. It was a look that seemed familiar for some reason and it was unnerving for him. He quickly swallowed what he had in his mouth and whimpered slightly.

Fluttershy felt terrible when she heard him do this. The last thing she wanted to do was make him feel bad. He had turned away from her.

She placed her hoof on his back and said gently, "Oh no. Please don't be sad. You didn't do anything wrong, you just need a little practice is all. Just take one at a time. Here, I'll help you."

The Changeling turned around and watched curiously as she took a leaf from his bowl in her mouth. She leaned over to him so the leaf was just under his nose. He took the other end of it in his own mouth and stared into her eyes. He had no clue what this feeling was that was washing over him, but he felt like he never wanted this moment to end.

Fluttershy too, stared into his eyes. For a moment, she was lost in their bright shade of green. It took her a second to realize that she was staring and let go of the leaf. She gave the changeling a shy smile and he seemed satisfied as he chewed on the leaf she had given him. When he wasn't looking, she turned away. Her face was bright red with embarrassment. She didn't know what she was thinking. This was a stranger that was sick, but she couldn't help but admit to herself that she felt something just then. She turned back to him and wondered if, in his state, he might have felt something as well.

…

They finished their breakfast and the Changeling watched as Fluttershy put all of the ingredients for their salads away. She took her bowl off of the table and gestured for him to take one too. She led him outside and the walked to the edge of the pond that was in front of her house. She dipped her bowl in the water, swished the water around inside of it, dumped it out, and watched to make sure that the Changeling did it properly. She led him back to the house and she put both of their bowls away. She was on her way to get her saddlebags when she decided she wanted to check something first. She walked over to where _Equestrian Creatures_ laid and opened to the chapter on Changelings.

She found the part she was looking for that answered her question and read aloud, "While Changelings only require energy from the love they receive to live, they are still capable of eating. The food they eat is immediately digested by their body for it lacks the nutrients that are needed. Some Changelings have been known to eat for the enjoyment of the taste as most, if not all, food tastes delicious to them. This is mainly due to the fact that their taste buds are underdeveloped for the fine cuisine that is considered normal for regular ponies."

She nodded as she closed the book. She was satisfied with that answer.

She looked to the Changeling and said, "Well at least you're going to be easy to cook for," and giggled at her own joke.

They went to her room and she put on the new, pink saddlebags while he adorned her old basket-like ones. They looked better on him than the bags. They went off to the field that she and Angel had been picking flowers from the other day. She hadn't realized until that morning that she didn't really get a chance to make up for all the lost time from her weekly flower picking. She picked the best flowers and gave them to the Changeling since he wasn't really able to tell which ones were good and which ones were bad. Fluttershy kept in mind that she would have the afternoon to herself when Rainbowdash came by to pick him up, so she put off all her work pertaining to the care the woodland creatures needed until the afternoon. At around two o'clock she decided that it was time to have some lunch. She stuck her nose into one of her saddlebags and pulled out a picnic blanket, then set it up on the ground.

Just when she set it up, Fluttershy heard a familiar voice, "Hey Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy looked up and was happy to see Rainbowdash hovering above them.

Fluttershy greeted her friend, "Oh… uh… hello there, Rainbowdash. Would you like to join us for lunch?"

Rainbowdash got excited at the thought of having a picnic with Fluttershy and responded, "Yeah, that sounds great Fluttershy."

Rainbowdash landed on the blanket and sat down. Fluttershy took out a daisy and daffodil sandwich and gave it to Rainbowdash. She took one out for herself and they began eating. Fluttershy was concerned for a moment, because she had only made two sandwiches. So the Changeling would have to go without. She decided that it was fine since he didn't really need to eat.

As if reading her mind, Rainbowdash questioned, "Is there not enough for him?"

Fluttershy answered quietly, "Well um… I had only made sandwiches for me and him, so uh… I gave his to you when you showed up. It's ok though… because he doesn't really need food."

Rainbowdash smiled inwardly as she found satisfaction in the thought of Fluttershy thinking it was more important to feed her than him. Still, she felt sort of bad looked at him. He was on his back and staring at the clouds as the passed by. She couldn't help thinking that he was kind of cute.

A thought came to Rainbowdash, "He needs a name."

Fluttershy was shocked by this question when she realized that she hadn't called him by a name the entire time that he had been with her and responded, "Well what did you have in mind?"

Rainbowdash glanced behind her at the Changeling trying to catch her tail and her eyes rested on his cutie mark, "How about dragon."

Fluttershy seemed slightly scared, "Dragon?! Why?"

Rainbowdash said, "Think about it. He has a dragon head on his flank and he turned into a dragon to save you. I can't think of a better name for him… oh wait! I just did… Dragonshy! Since you were the one that saved him and he is staying with you, he should take on a part of your name."

Fluttershy repeated the name in her head before voicing her opinion, "That does have a nice ring to it. Ok, but please don't talk about him changing into a dragon. I am terrified of dragons and I really don't want to think of him as one."

Rainbowdash just smiled and said, "Sure, Fluttershy."

She felt free to voice this opinion as she teased him with her tail, "He is pretty cute when he's like this, though. How has he been doing today?"

As she said this, he caught her tail under his hooves. He opened them slightly to peek in and Rainbowdash used the end of her tail to tickle his nose. He sat up straight, sneezed, and fell backwards. He saw a bee fly up from the disturbed bed of flowers and started chasing it around the field.

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy giggled to each other and said, "Oh he's been wonderful. He learned how to open a door, make a salad, wash a bowl, and carry my flowers."

Rainbowdash was confused as to why he was getting so much praise for such trivial things and said, "I can do those things too."

Fluttershy gave a short, quiet laugh and said, "I know you can, Rainbowdash, but it's really great to see him learning so quickly."

Rainbowdash took a last bite of sandwich and asked with her mouth full, "Learning?"

Fluttershy nodded, "Oh yes. He watches what I do and, when I finish, he tries to do it for himself."

Rainbowdash said, "Well cool, but from the sound of it, you don't seem to have gotten any actual work done. So I'll take him with me and try to teach him how to use those wings of his."

Fluttershy said very cautiously, "Well alright, but don't push him too hard. I don't want him getting hurt; and please have him back before dark."

Rainbowdash was already halfway across the field to where the Changeling and shouted behind her, "Yeah yeah yeah. Don't worry. I've got this all under control."

Rainbowdash made it to him and whistled through her teeth. Dragonshy turned to her with his ears perked up.

"Front and center!" she commended.

Dragonshy had no idea why, but he stopped what he was doing and sprinted to stop in front of Rainbowdash.

Rainbowdash smiled, started marching back and forth, and said, "Alright Dragon, I will be your flight coach from this day forth. It'll be rough but, if you work hard, you will find that you will be a better pony from the experience of spending so much time with me. Any questions?"

Rainbowdash was just giving the speech for her own amusement. She knew that when she turned around she would be met with a blank stare from Dragonshy. She was quite surprised, when she turned around, to see that he was standing to attention. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. The same pony that had just been chasing a bee around a field of flowers was now standing straight, with a straight face, and poised for combat. Rainbowdash turned to Fluttershy who had been there and saw the whole thing. Fluttershy just shrugged to show that she had no idea what was going on either. Rainbowdash turned to the still at attention Dragonshy and wondered how far she could go with this.

Rainbowdash always liked to pretend that she was a Drill Sargent, so she gladly took up that role and yelled, "Alright floppy wings, since you have the nerve to think you have what it takes to be under my direct command, drop and give me fifty wing-ups."

Much to Rainbowdash's and Fluttershy's surprise, Dragonshy instantly dropped to the ground and began to do wing-ups. Dragonshy didn't have a single clue as to what he was doing. His body was moving on its own. He knew what Rainbowdash's words meant without being able to understand them. After his fifty wing-ups he stood back to attention.

Rainbowdash felt a smile creep across her face. She was going to enjoy this…


	8. Chapter Eight-Some Fantasies Come True

**A Great Change: Chapter Eight-Some Fantasies Come True**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Seeing the smile that Rainbowdash had, Fluttershy rushed to her side to try and reason with her.

Fluttershy pleaded, "Um… Rainbow uh… maybe we should try and find out why he is acting like this. Please don't make him do something dangerous."

Rainbowdash wasn't listening. She was too giddy at the idea of actually being a Drill Sargent for a real soldier. Besides, she didn't need to find out why he was acting like this. She knew exactly what was going on because of her obsession with the Wonderbolts. The Wonderbolts, while being performers, are first and foremost members of the equestrian military. Since she aspires to one day become a Wonderbolt, she has done a bunch of research along the lines of military training. In training camp or on the base that they are posted, the military personnel are drilled and re-drilled with the same exercises over and over again. This is done so repeatedly that they eventually get to the point where they respond to orders and carry out exercises subconsciously and without thinking. She knew that this must be what was going on in Dragonshy's mind. He must have been some sort of soldier before losing his memory. Even if he doesn't know what she is saying, he instinctively follows the orders of his superiors, and his superior was her.

Rainbowdash just waved her hoof in the air and said dismissively, "Yeah yeah, don't worry Fluttershy. I have everything under control."

She then marched up to Dragonshy, who was still at attention, and yelled, "Alright twigs-for-legs, let's get into the air. Get ready. Wings up in one minute."

She watched in admiration as Dragonshy carefully unfurled his wings. The care and attention that was put into this movement was astounding. Rainbowdash could not help but stare as he unfolded each individual feather and assumed a proper takeoff stance. He got down for takeoff and didn't move a single muscle beyond that. It took a moment before Rainbowdash realized that her staring kept her from keeping track of the minute. Assuming that it was about time, she took her position in front of him.

Fluttershy saw this as her last chance and said, "Rainbowdash please, think about…"

She was cut off as Rainbowdash yelled, "Three! Two! One! Takeoff!"

Rainbowdash left the ground at an amazing speed with Dragonshy soon to follow. Fluttershy felt herself almost swept away by the huge gust of wind that the duo had kicked up. She sighed, knowing that she wouldn't be able to do anything other than do her work and wait for them to come back. She just hoped that Rainbowdash remembered to have him home before dark and to keep him out of sight of the ponies in Ponyville.

…

When they would be getting home was the last thing on Rainbowdash's mind. She was soaring through the air at top speed and, when she looked behind her, she was impressed to see Dragonshy in short pursuit. She admitted that he was fast but decided that she needed to test his agility. She made a sharp dive and did several rolls in the air in her descent. Dragonshy easily followed her lead. She pulled up at the last second, a foot from hitting the ground, and sped toward the Everfree Forest. She led him through the trees. They had to weave back and forth to avoid hitting any of them. She wasn't worried about any dangerous animals because they were going too fast to even see the animals as they passed them. After a few minutes of this, Rainbowdash decided that she was not going to be able to shake him. She stopped suddenly, only to push herself straight into the air. Dragonshy did the same without stopping. They then continued their little dance in the skies above Ponyville for a long while.

…

The three Changelings that were in the forest had been taking a break. They were sitting in a small clearing, resting. Two of them had dozed off and the other was standing watch when he heard something a little bit away from where they were.

He yelled to his companions, "Hey guys!"

As they jumped awake and made their way to him he pointed with his hoof and said, "I hear something fast approaching from over there."

Just as he was saying this, a cyan pegasus with a rainbow mane burst through the foliage. They all ducked to avoid losing their heads to this fast-moving creature.

They were all looking at where the pegasus had disappeared into the trees on the other side of the clearing when one of them heard something else, turned around, and yelled, "Look out!"

They ducked again as a black blur sped past them and pursued the pegasus.

They all looked at each other, bewildered, and the two that had been dozing off just shrugged their shoulders and went back to sleep. The one who had originally noticed the oncoming threats rolled his eyes and sighed, resuming his watch position. In an hour or so, they were going to continue their travel to their commanding officer and make their report.

…

Rainbowdash landed on a cloud to rest, with Dragonshy right behind her. She turned around to see him breathing heavily and at attention.

She chuckled and said, "At ease, soldier."

As soon as she had said that, he collapsed on the ground, breathing franticly to catch his breath. She sighed as she thought to herself. This was how he was now, a helpless creature that almost needed to be spoon-fed. She wished that she had known him when he had his memory. She quite liked stallions of the military. When he was flying with her, she saw what he was before his memory loss. He had obviously been a battle-hardened, well-trained stallion. She began to fantasize about actually being with a stallion like that. She quickly dozed off, still fantasizing. She woke up just a few minutes later and turned over to see Dragonshy looking over the edge of the cloud, at Ponyville. She crawled over to him and patted his head. He took much pleasure in this and looked over at her.

She smiled and said, "Don't you worry, we're going to get your memory back."

…

Rainbowdash led Dragonshy down to the ground and decided that she should have something to eat. She was starving and knew that he didn't need to eat. They walked down to Sugarcube Corner. Before they had even made it to the front door, Rainbowdash and Dragonshy flinched as they heard a sharp scream come from inside. The front door burst open to reveal one of Rainbowdash's friends, Pinkiepie. She was a bright pink earth-pony with a darker shade of pink as her mane color. Her cutie mark was an arrangement of three balloons.

She quickly pounced onto Rainbowdash, pinning her to the ground, and said with much intensity, "Rainbowdash, who… is… that?"

With each word she shoved her face closer to Rainbowdash's to the point that their eyes were almost touching.

Rainbowdash quickly pushed Pinkiepie off of herself, gained her footing, and said, "Oh him? He's uh… Fluttershy's cousin from Cloudsdale. He's going to be staying here for a while, so I thought I should show him around town while Fluttershy was busy with her animals."

Rainbowdash smiled sheepishly under the intense stare of Pinkiepie. With Pinkiepie staring at her like this, she was sort of worried that she hadn't bought the fib.

After a good ten seconds of Pinkiepie staring at her, she said, "Okie dokie lokie!"

She turned to Dragonshy, took his hoof, vigorously shook it, and said, "Nice to meet you. I'm Pinkiepie. What's your name?"

She stopped shaking his hoof and took a step back as she waited incredibly patiently for a reply.

Rainbowdash quickly got to his side and said, "Um… believe it or not, shyness runs in the family for Fluttershy. This guy here may not look like it but he is actually worse off than Fluttershy. He can't really speak to anyone other than her."

This pause was much shorter and without an intense stare before Pinkiepie responded, "Oh, well do you know what his name is, Rainbowdash?"

Rainbowdash said, "Yeah, his name is Dragonshy."

Pinkiepie said, "Well welcome to Ponyville, Dragonshy…"

She trailed off at the end of her sentence and gasped.

Confused, Rainbowdash asked, "What's wrong Pinkie?"

Pinkie hopped up and down as she answered, "I can't welcome somepony to Ponyville without throwing him a party!"

Before Rainbowdash could voice her protest, Pinkiepie was gone. All she left in her place was a cloud of dust in the shape of her. Rainbowdash sighed. Fluttershy was not going to like this. Fluttershy had wanted to keep Dragonshy a secret until he regained his memory and now, knowing Pinkiepie and her parties, everypony in town was going to come and welcome him. She figured that since she was going to eat at the party, she would go and warn Fluttershy.

…

Rainbowdash and Dragonshy flew to Fluttershy's hut and Rainbowdash knocked on her door. The door quickly opened to reveal Angel. He was rapidly tapping his foot on the ground and staring at Rainbowdash in disapproval. He facepalmed himself, shook his head, and pointed to the kitchen. Rainbowdash went to the kitchen with Dragonshy right behind her. Fluttershy was sitting with her head planted on the table. She was slowly stirring some tea that was clearly not hot and already mixed.

Rainbowdash took a step forward and gave an awkward laugh before saying, "Sooo, I guess Pinkiepie beat me here?"

Fluttershy lifted her head just high enough to nod and dropped it back on the table.

Rainbowdash attempted to make light of the conversation by making a small joke, "I still haven't figured out how she is faster than me by just hopping around."

She gave another awkward laugh but let it drop off when she saw that Fluttershy was still in no mood to joke.

Rainbowdash was about to take another step toward Fluttershy when she felt a hoof on her chest. She looked to see Dragonshy next to her. He walked past her and to the side door that was in the kitchen. He put his hoof through the handle and stomped the other hoof on the ground. Fluttershy took the hint and turned to look at Dragonshy. Her ears perked up when she saw what he was doing. He puffed out his chest and, with a huge smile on his face, went on to repeatedly open and close the door. Rainbowdash just stared curiously at the ridiculous sight of him. She turned back to Fluttershy and was surprised to see a smile on her face as she got up and went to the door.

She held the door shut with her hoof, gestured for Dragonshy to sit down, and said, "Thank you, Dragonshy."

Fluttershy then went over to Rainbowdash and said, "Well I knew I wasn't going to keep him a secret forever. I'm just glad that you were able to think of a believable story for me. Thank you Rainbowdash."

Fluttershy caught Rainbowdash off guard with a hug and, after getting over her shock, Rainbowdash returned the hug. After a second, Rainbowdash thought that the hug was a little too long when she noticed that Fluttershy was crying.

She pushed Fluttershy in front of her to get a good look. Fluttershy was crying and obviously didn't want Dragonshy to see.

Rainbowdash took Fluttershy under her hoof and said to Dragonshy, "Attention!"

When he snapped to attention, she continued, "Standby for orders!"

Dragonshy gave a quick salute and went into the living room to lie down next to the fireplace.

Rainbowdash took Fluttershy up to her room and closed the door before inquiring, "What's wrong Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy looked up and said, "I don't know what to do, Rainbowdash. I really don't want to lie to my friends. But I am afraid that if I tell them what Dragonshy really is, they won't want him around."

Rainbowdash gave Fluttershy another hug and said while embracing her, "Fluttershy, I hate to say it, but you're right. Knowing Twilight, she would probably alert the princess that there was a changeling here. There's no telling what would happen after that."

Fluttershy sobbed even harder after hearing that. Rainbowdash patted her on her back and put her into her bed.

Rainbowdash said as reassuringly as she could, "I'll do everything I can to help you. He's kind of growing on me and I don't want to see him have to leave either."

Rainbowdash began to walk to the door when Fluttershy stopped her, "Um… Rainbowdash."

Rainbowdash turned around to see Fluttershy sitting up in her bed.

Rainbowdash asked, "Yeah?"

With tears still streaming down her face, Fluttershy looked at the floor as she said, "Could you um… stay with me tonight? I really don't want to be alone right now."

At this request, Rainbowdash's heart skipped a beat. Her greatest fantasy was being realized right then and there. She fought the urge to say "Oh my gosh!" repeatedly.

Instead she gave a warm smile, hopped onto the other side of the bed, and said, "Sure."


	9. Chapter Nine-An Eventful Morning

**Hey guys! Alright, I have decided to make a slight change to original plan of the story. My original plan was to follow each and every episode in "Friendship is Magic". As you can see in my previous chapters, I have trailed off from doing that. So I am going to start focusing on my own story line. It is still going to meet up with and include details from the actual show, but not to the degree that I had planned from the start. Hope you guys like it. Enjoy chapter nine!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Nine-An Eventful Morning**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Rainbowdash woke up early the next morning. She was delighted to see the sleeping Fluttershy next her that assured her that last night had actually happened. She stayed there for a few minutes to enjoy the moment, but the reason she woke up kept prodding at her to get moving. She was hungry. Normally, when Pinkiepie says that she is going to have a party, it is set up promptly and the same day as the idea to have it. Thinking that the party was going to be that day, Rainbowdash skipped dinner. She needed to eat something. She got up as quietly as she could and began to move toward the door. She stopped when she heard movement in the bed and turned around to see Fluttershy smiling and staring at her.

Still smiling, Fluttershy said, "Good morning Rainbowdash. I hope that you slept well."

Rainbowdash leaned against the dresser, returned Fluttershy's smile and said, "Yeah, one of the best sleeps I've had in a while."

Fluttershy got out of bed and walked over to her saying, "I had a wonderful sleep as well. Um… don't take this the wrong way, but um… I didn't really expect you to wake up before me. I mean… it's just… I never took you for an early riser."

Rainbowdash opened the door for her as they both entered the hallway and responded, "Well I'm not, really. I was pretty hungry since I missed dinner last night."

Fluttershy's stomach was heard grumbling and, after they both laughed for a moment, Fluttershy said, "I missed dinner too. Come downstairs and I'll make us some breakfast."

Rainbowdash was excited that Fluttershy would be making her breakfast and they both walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. They both stopped at the doorway, surprised at what they saw. Angel was at the table, eating his way through the large helping of pellets that he normally had for breakfast. Waiting for them on the table were two bowls of salad. They both peeked around the corner when they heard a cabinet door shut. They saw Dragonshy putting away a bag of carrot slices.

It took a moment before he realized that they were there. He looked at them for a moment, not knowing what to do. He wanted them to sit down and eat the food he put out for them, but didn't know how to get them to do it. He racked his brain for information and remembered something. Whenever Fluttershy wants him to go to a certain place, she would nod her head and wave her hoof in the direction of whatever it was. He did this for them, gesturing toward the table. He was delighted to see that they understood and they both sat down at the table. As they sat down, Angel finished his breakfast and hopped out the door.

Fluttershy sat down and commented, "Well isn't this a lovely surprise."

Rainbowdash was slightly disappointed that she didn't get to eat something that Fluttershy made, but looked at the salad in front of her and was actually impressed at how good it looked. There was plenty of lettuce and a perfect amount of tomato and carrot to compliment it. She took a bite and was satisfied with the taste, deciding that this would be a close second to anything that Fluttershy would have made.

She turned to Fluttershy and said, "Yeah, where did he learn to do this?"

Fluttershy took a bite of her own salad before explaining, "I told you yesterday that he has been watching me do things and learning how to do them for himself. Yesterday I taught him how to make a simple salad."

Rainbowdash continued eating, but stopped when she saw a development between Fluttershy and Dragonshy. He had walked over to Fluttershy and looked hopefully at her for a moment. She gave a warm smile, took a leaf of lettuce out of her bowl, and fed it to him. He took his time in taking hold of the leaf and Rainbowdash was surprised to see Fluttershy take just as long to let go of it for him. He chewed it and, as he did, they both smiled to each other before Fluttershy went back to eating for herself.

Rainbowdash waited a moment before questioning the whole affair, "Uh, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy swallowed before answering, "Yes, Rainbowdash?"

Rainbowdash did not beat around the bush in asking, "What the hay was that all about?!"

Fluttershy thought for a moment before explaining, "It's um… to satisfy his diet," at Rainbowdash's questioning look, Fluttershy continued, "Well um… Changelings, like him, need to receive love in order to survive. The easiest way for me to give him love is through small gestures like that. They show him that I care about him and rejuvenate him. I also think it's cute how much he enjoys a plain leaf of lettuce."

Rainbowdash questioned further, "It looked to me like you enjoyed doing it."

Fluttershy blushed and looked away when she talked, "Well um… I just like making everypony happy, that's all."

Fluttershy's ears perked up and she suggested, "Rainbowdash, you should try it. It really is a great feeling and he absolutely loves the gesture."

Rainbowdash just shook her head as she ate some more salad and spoke through a full mouth, "I don't think so. I think he is getting enough love from you."

Rainbowdash swallowed and turned to Fluttershy. She was taken aback by the pleading look that Fluttershy was giving her.

Fluttershy did, in fact, plead, "Please, Rainbowdash? I really do think that it would mean a lot to him for you to do it too."

Rainbowdash completely melted under Fluttershy's prodding and said, "Fine fine. Where is he?"

It turns out that when they had been talking, Dragonshy had gone outside and washed Angel's bowl without them noticing.

Rainbowdash turned to him, whistled, and said, "Dragon, front and center."

Dragonshy dropped the bowl and rushed to Rainbowdash's side to stand at attention.

Rainbowdash continued, "At ease."

Dragonshy relaxed and watched, curiously, as Rainbowdash nervously took a lettuce leaf from her bowl. She proceeded to hold it out to him. He was very surprised at this gesture but was excited to be receiving another bit of the delicious food. He grabbed it in his mouth and he went wide eyed as he felt a surge of energy rush through him. This energy was different from the one that he got from Fluttershy. When he received energy from Fluttershy, it was always a calming energy that made him feel at ease. The energy that he was getting from Rainbowdash was different in the sense that it made him feel as if he could do anything. This energy made him feel empowered. He felt as if he could do anything as long as he was with her.

Rainbowdash felt something too. She felt a sense of satisfaction and happiness emanating from Dragonshy. It made her feel… complete. This was a feeling that Rainbowdash was not used to and wished to keep it as long as she could.

Fluttershy was overtaken with joy at the sight of the two getting along so well. A part of her though wished that she could be part of it.

She slowly leaned toward Rainbowdash and whispered, "I know how wonderful it feels, but you have to let go eventually."

This statement snapped Rainbowdash out of her trance and she promptly let go of the leaf of lettuce.

As Dragonshy chewed the lettuce, Rainbowdash turned to Fluttershy and asked, "What the hay just happened? What did I just feel?"

Fluttershy shook her head and answered, "I don't know, honestly. After you two left yesterday, I tried to find something in the book that explained it. There is nothing in there that describes the experience. I think that if we really wanted to figure out what it is, we would have to talk to Twilight."

Rainbowdash thought for a moment and shook her head when she voiced her opinion, "Um… I guess we don't really need to know why we get that feeling."

Fluttershy nodded her head in agreement. They both finished their breakfast and Dragonshy took their bowls outside to wash them. Fluttershy and Rainbowdash both jumped in surprise when they heard an excited, high-pitched voice outside.

"Good morning Dragonshy! How are you doing today?" they both knew that it was Pinkiepie talking and rushed to the window.

They saw a familiar cocked head of Dragonshy staring at the pink pony when she said, "What's the matter, silly philly? It's like you don't understand what I am saying."

Dragonshy perked up at this statement, pointed at the house, and said, "Fluttershy."

Pinkiepie's face was one of sheer astonishment as she exclaimed, "Wow! That's amazing! It's like you knew what I was going to ask you!" she began to walk past him and toward the hut when she said over her shoulder, "Boy, when you finally open your mouth, you sure are helpful."

Dragonshy continued to the pond, feeling quite proud of himself.

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy looked at each other and laughed. There was a knock at the door and Rainbowdash went to the living room while Fluttershy went to answer the door. Fluttershy opened the door to see a very happy pony on the other side.

Before Fluttershy could greet her, Pinkiepie said, "Good morning Fluttershy! How are YOU today?"

Fluttershy looked pass Pinkiepie slightly (she could never get used to the excitement Pinkie always brought with her) as she answered, "Oh… I'm fine. How are…"

Pinkiepie cut her off and yelled, "I'm great!"

Fluttershy got down a little bit, with Pinkiepie's excitement making her a little uncomfortable, "Um… did you need something, Pinkie?"

Pinkiepie began to hop up and down as she spoke very quickly, "As a matter of fact, I did. As you know I am having a party today to welcome Dragonshy, but the sky looks like it is going to storm. So I talked to Cloudchaser and she told me to talk to Ditzy, who said something that I couldn't quite make out, so I went to look for Rainbowdash, but she wasn't home, so I came here to ask if you knew where Rainbowdash was, and I really need to find her so that she could maybe clear the clouds before my party, because I really don't want anypony being caught in the rain on their way to my party."

Fluttershy was completely confused from how fast Pinkiepie was talking.

Fluttershy couldn't follow Pinkiepie's story at all and was about to ask her to repeat it when Rainbowdash walked up to stand next to Fluttershy and said, "Ok, all I got out of that is that you were looking for me."

Pinkiepie stopped jumping and asked, "Rainbowdash? What are you doing here so early?"

Rainbowdash answered very casually, "Me and Dragonshy got her pretty late yesterday, so Fluttershy let me crash here for the night. So what did you need Pinkie?"

Before Pinkiepie could answer, she moved out of the way for Dragonshy as he was bringing the two bowls he washed into the house. Fluttershy and Rainbowdash made room for him and he walked into the kitchen to put them away.

Pinkiepie addressed Fluttershy, "Wow Fluttershy, he's even more socially awkward then you are!"

Pinkie had a huge smile on her face after this statement. Fluttershy and Rainbowdash looked at each other, both having confused faces. They couldn't tell whether Pinkiepie was trying to compliment him or make a joke.

Rainbowdash just shook her head and asked again, "Pinkie… did you need something from me?"

Pinkiepie, remembering why she was there in the first place, nodded vigorously and said, "Mhm mhm mhm. I was hoping that you could clear the sky for my party today."

Rainbowdash took a step forward and looked up. The sky was completely gray from all the clouds in the sky. They were big and heavy. She knew that she would need some help if she was going to get them all cleared before the rain started falling. A thought hit her and she smiled.

She said to Pinkiepie, "No problem, Pinkie. Me and Dragonshy will have it done in ten seconds flat."

Pinkiepie resumed her excited hopping as she said, "Oh, yay! I had no idea that Dragonshy was a weather pony! I can't wait to see you two in action."

Rainbowdash nodded to Pinkiepie, walked a little ways down the path, cleared her throat, and yelled, "Dragon! Front and center!"

Pinkiepie and Fluttershy ducked to avoid being hit by Dragonshy, moving fast as a bullet, to stand at attention in front of Rainbowdash.

Rainbowdash, taking command, said, "Alright soldier. We have a tough job in front of us. Your orders are to keep half a click to my left and follow my lead. Understood?"

Dragonshy nodded as he began to unfold his wings.

Rainbowdash turned to face the same way as him and began her countdown, "Three! Two! One! Takeoff!"

The two of them took off with enough speed to send a gust of wind so strong that it blew Fluttershy and Pinkiepie into Fluttershy's hut. They both poked their heads out to watch in amazement as the two pegasi went to work. Side-by-side, Rainbowdash and Dragonshy tore through the clouds to make a cross-hatch pattern in the clouds. They had quickly split up the entire grouping of clouds into smaller pieces that could easily be smashed. They quickly flew to the far end of the grouping and began to move through it, fast as lightening, in a zigzag. They went up and down, up and down, up and down, taking out row after row of clouds. They had quickly cleared the entire sky and Rainbowdash led Dragonshy to a hard landing in front of the two open-mouthed ponies.

Rainbowdash puffed out her chest, raised her hoof in the air, and said, "What did I tell you? Ten… seconds… flat."

Pinkiepie was the first to get over her astonishment and yelled, "That was amazing you two! Thank you thank you thank you! Now I can go set up the party without any worry!"

With that, Pinkiepie disappeared again. All she left was another dust cloud in her shape.

Rainbowdash turned to face Dragonshy, who was standing at attention.

She softly said, "At ease, Dragon."

Dragonshy was relieved when she said this, but before he could lie down to catch his breath, he felt Rainbowdash's hooves around his neck. He looked to see that she was hugging him.

With her head leaning on his shoulder, Rainbowdash whispered, "You were so great up there. For a second, I didn't think that we would finish in time. I had you with me, though, and that fact pushed me to figure out a way to do it. Thank you."

Dragonshy had no idea what she was saying but felt the warmth of her hug and naturally returned it.

Fluttershy gladly watched them embrace each other, happy to see them getting along. She had been worried that Rainbowdash's feelings for her would make Rainbowdash not like Dragonshy. She was glad that they liked each other and realized that she was excited to develop her relationship with both of them in the days to come.


	10. Chapter Ten-The Truth Hurts

**A Great Change: Chapter Ten-The Truth Hurts**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Fluttershy and Rainbowdash had both decided to take an off day while they waited for Pinkiepie's party to begin. They went out to the field behind Fluttershy's hut and relaxed while Dragonshy chased animals around. At first, Fluttershy had been worried about this activity but put her worries aside when she saw that not only Dragonshy, but also the animals that he was chasing, were enjoying the activity. Fluttershy was down on her haunches and she looked to her side to see Rainbowdash lying with her back against a tree and her fore-hooves behind her head as she slowly dozed off.

Fluttershy couldn't help but tease Rainbowdash a little, "So, Rainbow… I thought you said that Dragonshy was getting enough love from me…"

The statement snapped Rainbowdash awake, so much so that she slid off the side of the tree she had been leaning on. Trying to regain her composure, she propped herself up against the tree again.

Her eyes darted around and her face turned red as she answered, "Well I uh… just thought he looked tired after he was done flying. Yeah, that's it. I didn't want him to collapse right then and there before you could get to him. So I figured that I would help him out…"

She gave an awkward laugh and looked at Fluttershy. Fluttershy just smiled one of her warm smiles that calmed Rainbowdash down.

Fluttershy said to Rainbowdash in her most calming voice, "It's ok Rainbowdash. It's ok to have feelings for him. I wouldn't be angry at you or anything."

Rainbowdash knew that Fluttershy knew that she had a huge crush on her. It was a good thing that Fluttershy was as kind as she was, because she would not bring it up until Rainbowdash was ready to bring it up for herself. Rainbowdash was not worried about Fluttershy being mad though.

Rainbowdash leaned back against the tree again and wondered aloud, "I don't get it though. I don't want to have feelings for anypony else. It just seems weird to me. I barely know him and all that I know about him is the fact that he has no idea who he even is. How can somepony have feelings for somepony like that?"

At the question, Rainbowdash gestured at the stallion who was being led in a circle by Angel. He quickly got dizzy, stopped, fell backwards, and almost crushed Angel since Angel had kept on going in the circle.

Fluttershy let out a small laugh and said, "I don't see how anypony could not love that. He's a sweet and gentle pony. He is considerate and likes to make everypony smile. He is so innocent that it is adorable…"

Fluttershy trailed off in the description. Rainbowdash looked at her as Fluttershy continued to watch Dragonshy snap at bugs in the air above him. Rainbowdash hadn't realized before that maybe Fluttershy had feelings for Dragonshy as well.

Rainbowdash shook off this thought and said, "I don't know about all that stuff, but I will say this. He is a great flier. I have the feeling that, before he lost his memory, he was part of a military of some sort. I've always admired ponies of the military, but the way I feel about him is different from just admiration. It's like every time I am with him, I start to overflow with emotion. It's a weird feeling but, somehow, I like it."

Fluttershy looked back at Rainbowdash. Fluttershy had never heard her friend talk like this. Even what Rainbowdash had said to Dragonshy back in front of her hut was completely out of character. Fluttershy began to think that maybe Rainbowdash now had greater feelings for Dragonshy than she had for her. The thought worried her. She always enjoyed her relationship with Rainbowdash and didn't want anything to ruin it.

With each of them pondering about their own things, they almost didn't notice the commotion coming from Ponyville. Rainbowdash took to the air to get a better view of the town. She was confused to see a giant sign that read "Bring him over!" Rainbowdash shook her head and thought about how Pinkiepie was always pulling off impossible feats that seemed too unreal to actually be there. Rainbowdash had learned just not to question what Pinkiepie did and just roll with it. She had no doubt that, by the time they made it to the town, the sign would be gone and there would be no trace of it.

Rainbowdash landed softly next to Fluttershy and said, "It looks like they're ready for us," she waited for Fluttershy to get up and the two of them to start walking toward Dragonshy to continue, "Fluttershy I've been thinking and I think that the best thing we can do is pull Applejack, Rarity, Twilight, and Pinkie aside and explain everything to them. Then, if anypony else starts to ask questions, we just give them the same story that I had originally given Pinkie. Sound good?"

Fluttershy just nodded. She was really nervous about telling all the others about Dragonshy being a Changeling, even if it did seem to make the most sense out of anything else to do. Rainbowdash saw that Fluttershy was hanging her head low as she thought about what might happen.

Rainbowdash nudged Fluttershy's head up with her nose and said reassuringly, "Don't worry Fluttershy, everything will be fine. If they do think that it would be best for him to leave, then we will figure something out. No matter what happens though, just remember that I am right next to you and I won't let him leave. Alright?"

Fluttershy was comforted by these words and nodded to Rainbowdash. They made it to where Dragonshy had fallen asleep on his back. Fluttershy almost didn't want to wake him up but nudged him gently anyway. When he opened his eyes, he stood up immediately. The three of them walked down the path leading to Ponyville from Fluttershy's hut.

…

Pinkiepie was standing atop the Sugarcube Corner with a pair of binoculars watching the road.

Upon seeing the trio making their way to them, she called down to everypony that was gathered, "They're coming! They're coming! Everypony get ready!"

Everypony had just been mingling and talking amongst each other. They all looked up questioningly at Pinkiepie.

Applejack, an orange earth pony with a blond mane and a cowboy hat, trotted up to the side of the building and yelled up to Pinkiepie, "Hey there, Sugarcube. I thought you said that this here party weren't supposed to be a surprise."

Pinkiepie somehow floated down to stand next to a confused Applejack and said, "Oh yeah! I'm such a silly philly, I forgot!"

Applejack rolled her eyes as the two of them went with the others to go and greet the newcomer. Together with Twilight and Rarity, the four of them met the trio before they made it to Ponyville. All the other ponies just continued their outdoor party as they waited patiently for the guest of honor to arrive.

When they all met up, Rainbowdash was the first to speak up, "Hey guys."

Rainbowdash looked over them, since she was already hovering a few feet above the ground, and saw that she had been right in her assumption that the sign calling them over would be gone without a trace.

Twilight answered, "Hello, Rainbow. Hello Fluttershy, would you mind introducing us?"

Fluttershy began, "Um… everypony, this is…"

She was cut off by an excited Pinkiepie that could not wait for Fluttershy to slowly make introductions, "Everypony, this is Fluttershy's cousin from Cloudsdale. Dragonshy, this is Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, I'm Pinkiepie, and over there in the town is Mr. Cake, Mrs. Cake, the mayor, Cherilee, Big Macintosh…"

Pinkiepie found a hoof covering her mouth as Applejack said, "Easy there, Tiger. You're gunna overload the poor pony."

Twilight, a purple unicorn with a dark purple mane that had a pink highlight through it, stepped forward and said, "What Pinkie is trying to say is, welcome to Ponyville. We hope that you enjoy your stay here."

Before anypony could notice that he was not responding to anything that they were saying, Rarity said admiringly, "My my my, Fluttershy. You never told me that you had such a dashing Pegasus as a cousin. Why ever didn't you not inform me of his arrival? I would have cleaned myself up a bit."

Fluttershy drew circles in the ground with her hoof as she answered, "Oh… well um… he just sort of… dropped in suddenly."

Rarity walked up to Dragonshy and held out her hoof for him to kiss it as she said, "Well it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance Mr. Dragonshy."

After an awkward moment of her holding out her hoof and him just staring at it, dumbfounded, she cleared her throat to get his attention. When he still did not react, she put her hoof down and took a step back.

Pinkiepie laughed and said, "See? What did I tell you? He is even shyer than Fluttershy is!"

Rainbowdash, still hovering just above everyone, decided it was time for her to speak up.

Rubbing the back of her neck she began, "Actually guys… We need to talk about something. Can we all go back to Fluttershy's? It would be easier to explain there."

Knowing that the party would continue without the guest of honor being there, they all went back to Fluttershy's hut. More specifically, they all went to the field that Rainbowdash and Fluttershy had been relaxing in before the party. Nopony had said a word on the way over. They were all wondering what it could be that they wanted to say.

When they got to the field, Fluttershy went to her hut to go and get something while Rainbowdash began to retell everything that Fluttershy had told her. Leaving out some of the more embarrassing instances, Rainbowdash told them everything that she could to the best of her knowledge. By the time she had finished, Fluttershy had gotten back with her copy of _Equestrian Creatures_.

Everypony just stood there, in thought of what had just been said to them, until Twilight finally spoke up, "I'm sorry to be the one to doubt what you guys are saying but the chances of a Changeling landing behind Fluttershy's hut is slim at the very most. Are you sure about what you are saying?"

Annoyed, Rainbowdash pointed at Dragonshy saying, "Just look at him. He has no pupils. His eyes are a solid green. You've got to admit that's pretty weird."

Twilight shook her head as she responded, "Even so, it is more likely for that to be a medical condition of his than it is for him to be a Changeling. Changelings have been banished from Equestria and are not allowed to even show their faces here."

Rainbowdash stepped toward Twilight as she challenged, "Then I suppose that him being able to turn into a dragon is a medical condition too?"

Twilight couldn't think of a response and just said, "Well, you two were face-to-face with an Ursa Minor. Maybe you were seeing things in your excitement."

Fluttershy, who had been trying to get their attention the entire time with a book in her mouth, finally dropped it on the ground and said, "Excuse me, but um… I know how to prove that he is a Changeling."

Applejack saw her friend was nervous and walked over to place a reassuring hoof on her shoulder and said, "Well why didn't ya just say so, partner? Go ahead and show us."

Fluttershy smiled, nodded, opened the book up to the page with a picture of a changeling, and held it up to Dragonshy. She tapped on the picture several times with her hoof before Dragonshy finally got the idea. They all watched in wonder as Dragonshy transformed. His wings lost their feathers and became thinner to the point of being bug-like. His tail lost all its hair and hardened into the texture of a scale and became the shape of a spear tip. Lastly, he grew out his fangs. When he was finished, he looked just like the picture.

Everypony besides Fluttershy and Rainbowdash backed away out of fear.

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy watched as Twilight whispered something to Applejack, who nodded in reply.

Rainbowdash could not keep the scorn out of her voice, "What are you up to?"

As she was saying this, the message was passed to Rarity and Pinkiepie. The three of them made a wall between Rainbowdash and Twilight. Before Rainbowdash could figure out what was going on, Twilight took off down the road towards Ponyville.

Rainbowdash yelled, "Wait! What are you doing?!"

Pinkiepie said in her usual excited tone, "Oh, Twilight is going to get Spike so that she can write a letter to the princess about a Changeling being in Ponyville!"

Before Pinkiepie had finished her sentence, Rainbowdash attempted to fly over them to catch up with her. Applejack saw this coming and used the bouncing Pinkiepie as a springboard to jump up to Rainbowdash's height. Applejack grabbed Rainbowdash's tail and held her back. Applejack struggled to keep Rainbowdash there. She knew that she would not be able to hold her for very long but also knew that she just needed to hold Rainbowdash until Twilight got enough time to send the letter. As she was holding Rainbowdash, Applejack glanced behind her. She was worried that the Changeling would do something but, to her surprise, the changeling just stared with a cocked head at what they were doing. Applejack was puzzled by this but was thankful that he didn't do something like turn into a dragon. Then something totally unexpected happened. Fluttershy took off from where she was standing, zipping right pass the astonished ponies that had been in front of her. She was out of sight within seconds. None of them had ever seen Fluttershy fly more than five miles per hour. She had just rushed pass them at a speed that none of them could guess. Applejack's jaw dropped, letting go of Rainbowdash's tail but Rainbowdash was too surprised to do anything either. Eventually, they all got over their surprise and rushed after her.

Dragonshy took this time to change back into the form that he had been in previously, since that was the form that Fluttershy liked. He was exhausted after changing form twice, so he began to fly to catch up with everypony and get some energy.

Fluttershy was incredibly scared. She had never gone this fast before. That wasn't why she was scared though. She was horrified at the thought of the Princess banishing Dragonshy from Equestria. She didn't even know that she was physically able to fly this fast. She didn't care though. All that was in her mind was getting to Twilight before she was able to send the letter to the Princess. She went straight for the library, busted through the door, and tackled Twilight as soon as she saw her. Fluttershy pinned the surprised Twilight to the ground but when she looked up, she fell to her knees at the sight before her. Spike had just opened a window and sent the letter.

Spike turned to the saddened Fluttershy and said, "Hey there Fluttershy. So I hear you have a new pet," when he got a disapproving shake of the head from Twilight he shrugged his shoulders and began to head out the door back to the party, "Nopony tells me anything."

Before he could make it out the door, he burped.

A scroll popped out and he tossed it to Twilight saying, "I'm heading back to the party. You can read the congratulations letter yourself," he was obviously upset about being kept out of the loop.

The rest of the friends got there just in time to hear Twilight read the letter allowed, "My Dearest Twilight. I am appalled at the news you have just given me and I demand that you and your friends begin to head to Canterlot immediately. Bring the Changeling with you. If he poses a threat to you in any way, do not hesitate to use force. They are a dangerous lot and this amnesia could all be an act. Do not let you guard down no matter what. Anxiously awaiting you arrival, Princess Celestia."


	11. Chapter Eleven-Serious Discussions

**A Great Change: Chapter Eleven-Serious Discussions**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Everypony, aside from Dragonshy, was gathered in the library. They had split themselves up into two groups without noticing. Twilight, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkiepie stood on one side of the room while Rainbowdash and Fluttershy stood on the other side. There was silence for a long time while the two groups just stared at each other. Surprisingly, Pinkiepie was giving the most intense stare and kept glancing at everypony that was present.

Startling everypony, Pinkiepie yelled, "Ha! I win!"

They all just stared at her for a moment before Applejack spoke up, "Uh… win what, Pinkie?"

Pinkiepie looked at Applejack like she was crazy as she responded, "The staring contest of course, silly. I beat all of you."

As she finished her statement, Pinkiepie stood straight with a huge smile on her face while everypony else just slapped their foreheads with their hooves.

Rainbowdash took the opportunity to vent her anger, "Never mind Pinkiepie. What did you just do Twilight?"

Twilight simply stated, "I alerted the Princess of a possible threat to the ponies of Ponyville."

Rainbowdash could not keep herself from yelling, "Why?! Dragon is not dangerous! He is the nicest pony I have ever met!"

Applejack defended Twilight, "Easy there, Sugarcube. I have to agree with Twilight on this here problem. Even I know how dangerous Changelings are. Haven't ya'll heard the stories from when they roamed Equestria before they were banished?"

Rainbowdash shook her head and continued yelling, "I have and I don't care! This one is different!"

Rarity finally spoke up, "Even so, Darling. It's too late. The letter has already been sent and if we don't show up, things will only be worse."

Rainbowdash backed down, knowing that Rarity was right.

Pinkiepie gasped and began hopping up and down with excitement, "oh, does this mean we're all going to Canterlot? I need to go get my "Pinkie Pie's Perfect Party Pack"!"

They all stared at her again and she said as she hopped towards the door, "You know, my Penta 'P'. I'll meet you all at the train station."

As she opened the door and began to walk out, they heard her say, "Oh hi Dragonshy. Everyone is waiting for you inside."

Dragonshy, not paying attention to what Pinkiepie had said, just walked right into the library. He had no idea how he was doing it, but somehow he was able to feel the presence of Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. He was able to find where they were without any problem. He walked in and was delighted to see them there but, before he could take another step, he was met with Twilight's glowing horn in his face. He could naturally tell that this was a threatening gesture and stood still in front of it. He found the glow interesting and began to stare at it.

Twilight said menacingly, "Don't move. I want you to listen. We are going to take you to Canterlot. You better not try anything on the way there. I have been studying combat spells but I have not had a chance to test them yet. If you do try anything though, I will use you as my practice dummy."

Dragonshy paid no attention to the words coming out of Twilight's mouth for he was unable to comprehend the meaning of what she was saying. He just continued to stare into the purple light emanating from her horn.

Fluttershy slowly walked up to the two and tried to reason with Twilight, "Please Twilight, that's not necessary. Rainbowdash and I can get him to go without using any force."

Twilight kept her gaze fixed on Dragonshy as she responded, "I'm sorry Fluttershy, but Princess Celestia specifically said not to let my guard down."

Applejack saw that Fluttershy was on the verge of tears. She walked over to Twilight and placed a hoof on her shoulder. Twilight looked at Applejack, who gestured over to where Fluttershy was standing. When Twilight looked, she was deeply saddened by the sight of Fluttershy's head buried in Rainbowdash's chest. Rainbowdash put her hoof over Fluttershy to comfort her, but held her angry glare towards Twilight.

Twilight sighed, allowing the light from her horn to fade, and said, "Alright, Fluttershy. If you can get him to come with us without making any fuss, then you are welcome to do so."

Fluttershy was not able to do anything more than nod.

Rarity attempted to get things to move along, "Well everypony, if we are going to make it on the next train, we had better get going."

Applejack said, "She's right, girls. Let's head down to the Train station and meet up with Pinkiepie."

One-by-one, they all filed out the door. Applejack and Rarity took the lead, Dragonshy followed Rainbowdash and Fluttershy, and Twilight followed behind him.

…

When they got to the train station, they saw pinkie there standing next to a rather plain-looking suitcase. They all got onboard the train and took their seats in a booth. It was a first-class cabin. There was an extended seat on either side of the cabin, and a bed above each one. Pinkiepie threw her suitcase onto one of the bunks and jumped into it. Twilight, Applejack, and Rarity sat on one of the extended seats while Rainbowdash, Fluttershy, and Dragonshy sat in the other one with Dragonshy in the middle.

Twilight was reading a piece of paper and, when she looked up from it, she saw that Dragonshy was staring very happily above Twilight. When Twilight looked up, she could see Pinkiepie making faces at Dragonshy.

Twilight said to her, "Pinkie, settle down please. This is a very serious matter."

Pinkiepie hung off the side of the bunk so that her upside down face was even with Twilight's and said, "You need to lighten up, Twilight. He seems like a really nice pony. He reminds me of the Phillies that I play with every day. They love my "Pinkie Poses"."

Twilight said, "Princess Celestia said that it is very possible that this is all just an act to…"

Rainbowdash cut in, "I can't believe that you would trust Princess Celestia before you would trust us. I thought we were friends, Twilight."

Rarity gasped and said, "Rainbowdash, you watch your tongue, little missy. Twilight is just trying to help you and…"

Rainbowdash cut her off too, "Help?! How is this helping?! All I see her doing is getting my new friend arrested for no reason!"

There was a long silence following this statement. Each one of them was not looking forward to the twenty-four hour train ride to Canterlot.

…

An hour into the train ride and Pinkiepie had been bored for the past half an hour. She had managed to teach Dragonshy how to have a staring contest without making any sound so that Twilight wouldn't get mad at her. Dragonshy posed a worthy opponent to her and kept her entertained for a while. Fluttershy was sitting next to a window and gazed through it. She was trying not to think about the hostile situation she was in. Rainbowdash was bored out of her mind and couldn't do anything except stare at the floor and count the squares in the carpet. Rarity was perfectly fine, for she had brought a magazine with her. Applejack had tipped to her hat over her eyes and fallen asleep. Twilight had remained focused the entire time. She was doing her very best to cast a spell without Rainbowdash noticing. It was a spell that had been included with the note from Princess Celestia. It was supposed to keep a Changeling from being able to transform.

…

Now four hours into the train ride, rarity had jumped into the other bunk and fallen asleep. Pinkiepie entertained herself by pulling two puppets out of nowhere and putting on a show for Dragonshy. Dragonshy just could not take his eyes off of Pinkiepie. She was always doing something that grabbed his attention. Applejack continued to sleep. Fluttershy was still staring out the window. Rainbowdash could feel herself falling asleep and sat straight up as she tried her best to fight the urge. Twilight was exhausted from focusing her magic for the past four hours but kept on doing it. Rarity stirred and looked down at Twilight.

She was worried so she said to Twilight, "Twilight, Sweetie, you should rest for a bit. It's not healthy for a unicorn such as yourself to be channeling their magic for so long."

At this statement, Rainbowdash woke up and squinted accusingly at Twilight.

Twilight sighed, knowing that it was no use hiding it anymore and said, "I know but I have to keep this spell going the entire time. Celestia's orders."

Rarity jumped down to sit next to Twilight and said, "Luckily for you, I took the liberty of reading that little parchment over your shoulder, Dear. I know the spell and I will perform it as you rest."

Twilight smiled shyly and said, "Thanks, Rarity."

Twilight jumped up to the bunk that Rarity had been on and quickly fell asleep. Rainbowdash looked from Twilight to Rarity. Rarity saw this and winked at Rainbowdash. Rarity then curled up on the extended seat and fell back asleep. Rainbowdash smiled at this gesture and felt a little more at ease now that Dragonshy was not under constant surveillance.

…

Now eight hours into the train ride Fluttershy, Rainbowdash, and Dragonshy were all now watching Pinkiepie's puppet show. Pinkiepie eventually grew tired as well and rolled to the back of the bunk that she was in to show that she was done.

Dragonshy was starving. He could feel himself withering away. He was not getting any love out of this atmosphere.

Fluttershy looked at Dragonshy and saw that he was looking particularly skinny. She tried to think of a way to show love to him without any of the others noticing. As she was racking her brain, trying to think of a way, she saw Rainbowdash fall asleep. Before Rainbowdash had fallen asleep, she checked to make sure no one else was looking and nuzzled her head onto Dragonshy's shoulder. She quickly fell asleep like this. Fluttershy saw some of Dragonshy's body mass return and realized that this was a good way to give him love. Dragonshy had gotten down on his haunches and Rainbowdash's head slid onto the top of his shoulders. Fluttershy scooted closer to him and lied down next to him. She rested her head on his back, next Rainbowdash's head, and began to doze off. She was comforted by the feeling of Dragonshy getting bigger underneath her and quickly fell asleep as the feeling that she always got from showing love to Dragonshy enveloped her.

…

Applejack, having been the first to fall asleep, was the first to wake up. They were about ten minutes away from Canterlot. She silently applauded the unicorns running the train. Every train ride had a sleeping spell on it, to make the trip go by faster for the ponies that were riding in it. She looked at the extended seat in front of her and her heart melted at the sight before her. There was Fluttershy, Rainbowdash, and Dragonshy all huddled up and sleeping together. She thought it was the sweetest thing she ever saw. She decided that the others should see this. Applejack trusted Fluttershy's judgment of ponies and new that if Fluttershy thought that somepony wasn't dangerous, then they were not dangerous. She just wanted some way of showing the others that Dragonshy was not dangerous. Applejack nudged Rarity awake and motioned for her to look. Rarity smiled at the sight and went to wake up Twilight. Applejack woke up Pinkiepie and had to cover Pinkiepie's mouth to keep her quiet at first. The four of them gazed at the serine picture before them.

Twilight could not help but feel terrible. She now believed that Dragonshy was harmless and was sorry that she had told Princes Celestia about him. She silently decided that, when they got to the castle, that she would defend him. Eventually, the three ponies woke up. Fluttershy saw that everypony was staring at them and cowered in the corner of the seat. Rainbowdash saw them all staring at them and pretended that she was disgusted that she had woken up in such a position. Dragonshy looked up at Pinkiepie and saw her wave very excitedly to him. He copied the gesture and was pleased to see the huge smile on her face afterwards. The train stopped and the door to the cabin slid open.

Before anypony could exit, Twilight jumped down to stand in their way. Her horn glowed and they all teleported. They found themselves outside the door to the throne room in the castle.

Annoyed, Rainbowdash said, "Why didn't you just teleport us here to begin with."

Twilight shook off her dizziness and answered, "The further the distance, the harder it is to teleport."

Before anypony could say anything else, the doors to the throne room opened. Inside, they saw Princess Celestia sitting on her throne with Princess Luna sitting in the smaller throne next to her.

At the sight of the Princess, Dragonshy fainted. The six ponies that were around him immediately circled closer to investigate him.

Princess Luna closed her eyes, opened them, and said, "Be at ease, subjects. I can see that he is dreaming. He is merely unconscious."

Princess Celestia said afterward, "Leave him. I wish to speak to all of you. I want to know exactly what happened from the very beginning. Which one of you would be the best one for this job?"

Twilight, Applejack, Pinkiepie, and Rainbowdash dispersed to reveal a terrified Fluttershy crouching with her hooves above her head.

Princess Celestia said, "Fluttershy, correct? I wish, deeply, to believe that this Changeling is different from all the others. However, in order for me to come to that conclusion, I need to know all the details."

Fluttershy knew that she was right. She stood up, swallowed hard, and began to relate to the Princesses everything that had happened.

…

In the Changeling Capital, the platoon that had been charged with capturing Draco returned to report to their queen.

Captain Fear stepped forward to make the report, "My majesty, I regret to inform you that rather than taking Draco alive as was instructed we lost him and have come to the conclusion that the traitor has been terminated."

Sitting in a throne at the top of a set of stairs was a poor example of an alicorn. She was a large Changeling, towering over the rest of them. Her bug-like wings were as large as her body. She had a long, blue mane that trailed down to the floor. Her legs looked as if they were dissolving. Her long horn even had several holes in it.

She waved her hoof in the air and said, "No matter. As long as he is dead, he does not pose a problem. I was merely worried that he would get to Canterlot and warn the Princesses there of our plans. Carry out said plans as we had decided. To take Draco's place on the infiltration team is none other than you, Captain."

Captain Fear's ears perked up at this statement and asked excitedly, "Queen Chrysalis, that position is one for a major."

The queen snapped at him, "Do not get ahead of yourself CAPTAIN! Your mission was still a failure, whether it changed out plans or not. Maybe if your next mission is successful, I might consider your promotion. Dismissed."

Captain Fear saluted and exited the throne room with the rest of his platoon. He would make sure that this infiltration went as planned. He went to begin the preparations. It would be quite the feat to gain entrance into the Grand Galloping Gala without tickets.


	12. Chapter Twelve-Awakening

**A Great Change: Chapter Twelve-Awakening**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Fluttershy had finished telling the Princesses everything that she believed to be relevant. She was now at Rainbowdash's side, next to the unconscious Dragonshy. Fluttershy knew that the best thing one could do for an unconscious animal was leave them alone until they woke up naturally, but she was so worried about him that it was taking every ounce of her willpower to keep from shaking him until he woke up.

Rainbowdash saw that Fluttershy was worried and placed her hoof over Fluttershy's shoulders saying, "You heard the Princess, he'll be fine."

Fluttershy just leaned into Rainbowdash's chest as she held back her tears.

The other four ponies that had come in with them were standing outside the throne room. Princess Celestia had ordered that they remain out there until she came to a decision. Twilight was the only one who knew why she did this. Dragonshy was not the only one in trouble with the law. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy could also be arrested for harboring a Changeling. Twilight had gone in there ready to defend them, but found herself unable to stand up to her teacher. She was furious with herself. Her friends were in there, possibly begging for their lives, and she had done nothing to help them. In fact, she was the reason they were in this situation.

Princess Celestia had her eyes closed as she processed all of the information that had been given to her. Princess Luna had her eyes close as well. The entire time Fluttershy had been talking, she had been diving into the dreams of Dragonshy. As the Princess of the night, she had the power to go into the dreams of ponies. She couldn't change them but, most of the time, she was able to find answers in whatever the pony was dreaming about. This dream was different. There was nothing there to see other than Dragonshy. It was a huge black void that went on forever. The only thing that she could see was Dragonshy. He was darting around and looking all around him. He was looking for something. She followed him for a while but came to the conclusion that he was never going to find whatever it was that he was looking for.

Finally, Princess Celestia opened her eyes and said, "Dearest sister, could you wake him up now please?"

Princess Luna heard Princess Celestia and furthered her focus. In the dream, she got in front of Dragonshy. He stopped and looked at her. Her horn began to glow with a black light. She shot a ray of magic at him and then she disappeared.

Princess Luna opened her eyes and said, "It is done, sister."

Just as she said this, Dragonshy stirred. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy immediately began to crowd around him.

Princess Celestia said, "Give him space. He needs to have a bit of room."

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy did what was commanded and backed away a little bit. Dragonshy pushed himself upright and stumbled back to the floor. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy flew to his aid. They got on either side of him and got under each of his wings. They helped him to his hooves and kept him supported until they felt him carrying his own weight. Dragonshy put his hoof on top of his head. He was obviously experiencing some type of headache. He looked around and went back to holding his hoof to his head.

After a minute passed and his headache subsided, Dragonshy spoke, "Ugh… where am I? What's going on?"

His voice was deep and calm. It was a voice that one would hear from a father talking to his child. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy just stood there with their mouths hanging open. This was the first time they were hearing him speak other than a simple "Fluttershy".

Rainbowdash stepped forward, "Um… Dragonshy?"

Princess Celestia motioned to her sister, telling her to keep quiet and observe. She knew that they would be able to tell what kind of pony he was depending on his reaction to regaining his memory.

Dragonshy blinked a few times and focused on Rainbowdash, "Rainbowdash? That's your name, right?"

Rainbowdash found herself unable to speak. She just nodded in answer of his question.

Dragonshy took a step toward her and noticed Fluttershy behind her, "Fluttershy, you're here too?"

Fluttershy nodded in the same fashion.

Dragonshy looked around curiously, "Can either of you tell me what is going on here, or even tell me where here is?"

Rainbowdash managed to answer, "Dragonshy, you're in the Canterlot Castle's throne room. Don't you remember us coming here?"

Dragonshy winced as pain shot through his head, "Um… yes… no… kind of. It's coming back to me in short flashes."

Fluttershy got an idea. She walked up to Rainbowdash and whispered to her.

Rainbowdash seemed taken aback by what Fluttershy had said, "What?! Here? Right now?"

Fluttershy nodded and said, "Oh yes please, Rainbowdash. It will work so much better if we both do it, I'm sure of it."

Rainbowdash bit her lip as she considered it. She looked at Fluttershy and knew that she would not be able to go against those puppy-dog eyes of hers.

Rainbowdash looked at the ground and blushed as she said, "Ok, but really quick."

With that, the two of them walked to stand on either side of Dragonshy, who was still holding his head to fight off the pain that pierced through his skull. Both Fluttershy and Rainbowdash began to nuzzle Dragonshy affectionately. Almost instantly, the pain in his head stopped and he remembered everything all at once. Dragonshy jumped forward and pivoted on his fore-hooves to turn and face both the mares that had been snuggling against him. His face was totally red with embarrassment and he was breathing very heavily.

Rainbowdash asked, "What's wrong?"

Dragonshy responded very quietly, "I remember everything. Everything from the day that you found me, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy now spoke, "That doesn't explain what's wrong."

Dragonshy looked at the ground and said, "Let's just say, I am a little bit more aware now of our… situation."

Fluttershy's and Rainbowdash's faces both turned red. There was a very long, awkward, silence following this statement.

Princess Celestia decided that now it was her turn to speak up, "Now… Dragonshy was it?"

Dragonshy turned around to look at the Princesses.

He bowed and responded, "Yes, your highness."

Princess Celestia said, "Now that you seem to have your wits about you, would you like to explain to me your business in Equestria? Your kind was banished from this land long ago."

Dragonshy got up from his bow and stood up straight as he responded, "In all honesty, ma'am, I have no idea. The only thing I can remember is having something incredibly urgent to tell you. I can remember thinking to myself that I had to get to Canterlot and relay a message as soon as possible. But I can't remember what the message was or why it was so important. I am sorry for the trouble that I have caused and I willingly accept any consequence of my presence in these lands that I am apparently not allowed to set hoof on."

Princess Celestia took a deep breath and said, "You will not be held responsible for your presence, as I was the one that requested it. Nor will you be held accountable for the wrongs of your race. I have decided that I will allow you to live in Equestria under one condition."

Princess Celestia's horn glowed a beautiful golden hue and the doors at the far end of the room opened, revealing the four ponies that had been on the other side with their ears pressed up against the door.

Princess Celestia smiled as she continued, "You will have to gain the approval of all six of these mares. You must spend a full day with each of them, helping them with all their daily tasks. They will then write a report telling me whether or not they approve of you living in Ponyville. If even one of them says otherwise, you will be brought back here where I will decide a new fate for you."

Dragonshy bowed again saying, "Thank you for your consideration and understanding. I will do my best to gain the friendship of all these ponies."

Princess Celestia said, "Then I will be asking you all to take your leave now. I expect to see you all here in two weeks at the Grand Galloping Gala. There Twilight will bring me the reports. Of course I will expect to see you there as well, Dragonshy."

Remaining bowed, Dragonshy said, "It would be an honor, your highness."

Princess Celestia nodded her approval as the seven ponies walked out.

…

As they walked off of the castle grounds, Twilight spoke up, "Um… Dragonshy."

Everypony stopped and turned around to see Twilight.

She looked at him and said, "I'm really sorry about all of this. If I had just trusted my friends, then you would not have had to go through all that."

Dragonshy smiled and said, "Twilight, if anything I should be thanking you. If I had never come here, then I might never have regained my ability to speak. You did what you thought was right and no one can blame you for that."

Rainbowdash jumped up and said, "I can!"

Everypony laughed and Twilight said, "Well before we get back on the train, let's all go get something to eat. I'll pay."

They all went into a nearby restaurant and sat down in one of the larger booths that were available.

When the waiter came by and they all placed their order for their food and their drink, Dragonshy had only ordered a drink for himself.

After the waiter had left, Rarity asked, "Dearie, you're not going to have anything to eat?"

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "Oh no. I don't really have to eat anything to live, so I don't get hungry."

Twilight was puzzled and said, "Every living thing needs some form of sustenance. If you don't get yours from food, then how do you receive your nutrients?"

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy, who were on either side of Dragonshy, paused at the question. They were worried about him telling their friends how they had been feeding him.

Dragonshy rubbed the back of his neck with his hoof and said, "Well… I think that might be a story for another time."

To save him from explaining any further, the waiter came in with all their food. Grateful at the coincidence, Dragonshy let out a sigh of relief and grabbed his drink.

Applejack looked over at him and said, "Woo wee partner. I haven't seen anypony enjoy themselves a hard cider since my Uncle Applebarrel was in town last."

Dragonshy took a swig and said, "Sounds like a good pony to me. Anypony who can appreciate the fine taste of this beverage has my ok."

They all laughed and continued with their meal. Everypony barraged Dragonshy with questions. He wasn't able to answer most of them since his memory was still a little fuzzy. He found that he was only able to remember things that were not really important. Anything that seemed to be crucial or an important memory was one that he was unable to recall. For instance, he could remember liking to play army when he was a philly but could not remember where or with whom he had played it. When they all finished eating, Dragonshy still had half a mug of his third helping of cider. He downed it and followed the rest of them.

They made it to the train just before it left. It was very dark, since it was very late, so somepony had to guide them to their room. They thanked him as he left. They were all tired as they entered the room and decided to flatten the extended seats to make one large bed on the floor. Before they all settled in, Fluttershy gave a concerning glance to Dragonshy.

Dragonshy saw this and said, "Don't worry. I will take the bunk up there. You all relax down here without any worry."

She smiled and lay down with the others. Rarity, not wanting to sleep on the floor, took the other bunk. Soon, everypony fell asleep.

…

About halfway through the train ride, everypony woke up when they heard Rarity scream. They looked at her and she was pointing at the bunk opposite her. They all looked and gasped at what they saw. Dragonshy was all skin and bones. He was clearly malnourished.

Rarity said, "Oh my word. Whatever is the matter with you?"

Dragonshy tried to be as reassuring as possible as he was clearly talking through his pain, "Now now everypony. Don't be alarmed. Everything is fine."

Applejack said, "It doesn't look fine to me, Sugarcube."

Fluttershy and Rainbowdash looked at each other. They knew what had to be done to help him, but they were scared to do it in front of their friends.

Pinkiepie said, "Oh cool. He's shrinking even more. Can you show me how to do that?"

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy looked at Dragonshy to see that Pinkiepie was right. Dragonshy's muscle-mass was completely gone now, and he was unable to hold himself up. He crumpled onto his bunk.

Twilight looked at Fluttershy and asked, "What's wrong with him?"

Fluttershy and Rainbowdash rushed to Dragonshy and they each looked at the other. They both nodded and lay down on either side of him. They began cuddling up to him from either side. Immediately, the muscle could be seen growing back onto Dragonshy. He was soon able to lift his head. He was still visibly skinnier than he had been when they had gotten on the train, but he was still able to look around at all the ponies that were there.

He looked at Twilight and said, "Twilight, you asked me how Changeling receive their nutrients. Well this is it. Changelings receive their sustenance from the love of other creatures. That is the only way for us to feed. We absorb the energy that is found in love and use it for our bodily functions."

Twilight nodded and said, "Well I'm just glad that you are ok. Alright girls, everypony back to sleep. From the looks of it, there is still a long way to go before we reach Ponyville."

Everypony lay down to go back to sleep. Fluttershy and Rainbowdash remained where they were. Dragonshy put his head down to rest it on his fore-legs. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy put their heads down to be side-by-side with his. They all fell into a peaceful slumber.


	13. ChapterThirteen-Tragedy in Ghastly Gorge

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirteen-A Tragedy in Ghastly Gorge**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

It was early in the morning when the seven friends exited the train into the Ponyville train station. Because their visit to Canterlot had been sudden and unplanned, none of them had been able to properly prepare for their absence from the town. They all hurriedly set off to their jobs to make sure that nothing had gone too terribly wrong when they were gone. Fluttershy, Rainbowdash, and Dragonshy were left at the train station.

Fluttershy said to Rainbowdash, "Well we had better get going to my hut now too. I'm sure that Angel is worried sick about me."

Dragonshy coughed, to get their attention, and said, "Actually I had been meaning to talk to you about that, Fluttershy. As much as I appreciate all that you have done for me in my time of need, I don't think that sleeping at the foot of your bed would be… appropriate now that I have some awareness about the situation."

Fluttershy cringed as he said this. She knew that this was going to be a problem but had hoped that he wouldn't notice until it was too late.

She looked at the ground and rubbed one fore-hoof with the other as she said very timidly, "I suppose you're right…" her eyes widened and she stood up as she continued, "Then where will you stay? Ponyville doesn't really have any houses for sale."

Dragonshy put his hoof to his chin as he pondered the predicament, "Hmmm, I hadn't actually thought about that. I suppose I could maybe sleep on your couch until I find somewhere more permanent. That's, of course, only with your permission."

Fluttershy brightened at the idea of him staying with her but her fantasy was short lived as Rainbowdash jumped in between them and said, "Not to worry, Dragon. My house is huge. You can bunk with me in one of my guest rooms for as long as you want."

Dragonshy stepped back and said, "Well that does sound a bit more pleasant than an old couch. Of course I would still like to have Fluttershy's permission to move out of her house as well. She might have become accustomed to a roommate and may not wish for me to leave."

Fluttershy blushed. She was touched that Dragonshy was so concerned with her feelings.

Fluttershy looked up and said, "Oh, of course you can move out. I'm sure I can manage without you. Of course I will be expecting frequent visits."

Dragonshy walked up to Fluttershy and pulled her into an embrace as he said, "Of course, Fluttershy. I'm sure that Rainbowdash wouldn't mind a few visits from you as well," he added this last part with a sidelong glance toward Rainbowdash and her face turned red as she began to think about getting visits from Fluttershy.

Fluttershy was enjoying the hug from Dragonshy and returned his embrace. After a moment, they separated and said their goodbyes. Fluttershy needed to get back to her animals so she hurried down the path to her hut.

As Rainbowdash and Dragonshy walked down the road through Ponyville, Rainbowdash explained how she had the last couple of days off from weather patrol as well as that day.

Rainbowdash stopped as an idea crossed her mind and when Dragonshy turned to look at her she made her suggestion, "Hey, how about we head to Ghastly Gorge?"

Dragonshy raised an eyebrow at this suggestion and responded, "Well I have no idea what or where that is, but the name suggests that it is dangerous…" Dragonshy looked at Rainbowdash's disappointment, sighed, and continued, "Sounds like fun."

Rainbowdash became giddy with excitement. Not only was she going to go to one of her favorite places to train, but she was going to go with Dragonshy. She had no idea why the latter made her so happy but she didn't care. She was excited.

…

Dragonshy looked over the edge of the cliff that the two were standing on. He gulped at the treacherous terrain that was before him. Rocks jutting from the sides of the valley, waterfalls that spanned the entire crevice, thorn bushes blocking the way, and obvious avalanche zones were all indicators that told Dragonshy that they really should not be going through it.

He turned around to see Rainbowdash stretching and said, "I don't suppose we're here for a nice picnic?"

Rainbowdash chuckled at his joke and said, "Nope. We're going to be flying through it. I love coming here. I know all the safe paths through it by heart so, as long as you stay behind me, you'll be fine."

She finished stretching and took her place next to him. She got down and unfurled her wings quickly all in one swift motion.

Dragonshy sighed and stood up straight as allowed the passing wind to unfurl his wings for him. He carefully made sure that all his feathers were straight and unfolded. When he was satisfied with the status of his wings, he also got down into a takeoff stance.

Rainbowdash jumped in front of him and said, "Hold on there, Dragon. We are not going until you tell me how you do that."

Dragonshy blinked and asked, "Do what?"

Rainbowdash poked his left wing and said, "You know, that thing with your wings. It looks awesome when you do it and I see the Wonderbolts do it too, when they are about to take off. I want you to tell me what it is and how to do it."

Dragonshy smiled sheepishly and said, "Your guess is as good as mine. I don't know why I do half of the things I do these days. My body just does them on its own. So it also stands to reason that I don't know what it is either."

Rainbowdash stood next to him and stared at his wing, "Just fold up your wings and prepare for takeoff again. This time I'll watch closely."

Dragonshy was not going to argue. He thanked Celestia for every moment he was able to stall going into Ghastly Gorge. He folded his wings and slowly unfurled them just as he had done before.

Rainbowdash paid close attention and jumped to her position next to him after she thought she had it memorized. She slowly opened up her wings and was surprised to feel the gentle force of the wind catch in her wings. The shape of her wings created a small vacuum within their clutches. This vacuum circled around under her wings and she found that, as she positioned her wings differently, it would work its way into her feathers and straighten all of them as well as unfold and untangle all of the ones that were out of place from being creased against her side for extended periods of time. When she felt that all her feathers were aligned properly, she lifted her wings higher as she had seen Dragonshy do and felt the air pass under her wings and no longer felt the vacuum. She couldn't help but smile and how great her wings felt afterward and looked at Dragonshy, still smiling.

Dragonshy was speechless. He looked at her during this whole process and thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. The way the wind lifted her rainbow-colored mane off her shoulders and the warm smile on her face mad his heart skip a beat.

Rainbowdash noticed him staring, blushed, and said, "Alright, now that we're both ready, let's go!"

With that, she jumped and plummeted down the valley. She pulled up just in time to avoid hitting the bed and stopped to make sure Dragonshy was following… he wasn't.

She yelled up to him, "Come on, Dragon. I'm going through with or without you."

After saying this, she proceeded at what she believed to be a leisurely pace. This pace was actually faster than most ponies could attempt to fly.

Dragonshy, not wanting her to go through this dangerous trek alone, jumped off the cliff as well. He surprised himself as he skillfully used the momentum of the drop to increase his horizontal speed as he pulled up much more gradually than Rainbowdash had done. He easily matched her speed as well as accelerated to catch up to her. He had no idea how, but he was able to bob and weave through the air as he avoided any and all obstacles in his way. After a minute, he saw Rainbowdash in front of him and began to slow down to match her pace. When she noticed he had caught up with her, she looked over at him. He gave a quick salute as well as a playful wink.

She yelled over the sound of the air as they rushed through it, "So you finally caught up? Well then let's kick things up a notch!"

She sped off, leaving nothing but a rainbow trail and an impressed Dragonshy in her wake. Hoping that his instincts would continue to protect him, he sped off after her. They were going at a ridiculous speed and he continued to surprise himself as he was still able to avoid all the obstacles the gorge hade to offer even at the high speeds he was traveling at. They went lower to be just inches off the surface of the river that flowed through the bottom of the valley. They kicked up trails of water as they went. Just when everything was going smoothly, something incredibly unexpected happened. A fish jumped out of the water, right in front of Rainbowdash. She slammed into it and was sent off course as she struggled to get it off. When she finally managed to shake it, she looked to see a rock face in front of her. She was going too fast to stop and hit it head on.

Dragonshy noticed that she was no longer at his side and looked behind him to see a dazed Raindbowdash rubbing her head as she sat down catching her breath. He landed and began to walk to her and make sure everything was alright. As he was walking, he stopped as he heard a thundering noise coming from above them. He was horrified when he saw a giant boulder falling directly above Rainbowdash. He immediately took to the air and desperately flapped his wings in an attempt to pick up enough speed to make it to her before the boulder crushed her.

Rainbowdash looked up and saw the boulder as well. She rushed to her feet and instantly fell back down. She winced in pain as every muscle in her body was resisting movement. She was in too much pain from colliding with the wall at such a high speed. She couldn't move. She glanced over at where Dragonshy shy was and saw that he was way too far away to do anything. If he did, by some miracle, manage to make it to her, she knew that he would not be able to get her out of the way fast enough. She closed her eyes and put her hooves over her head. Rainbowdash figured there was nothing left to do but to get down and await her inevitable demise.

Dragonshy could feel tears appearing in his eyes as he began to realize that there was no possible way for him to make it to her in time. He began to think as hard as he could to try and figure out what to do, but his memory was limited and his thoughts were met with headaches. He could not think of anything he could do to save her.

…

Over in Sugarcube Corner, Pinkiepie and the Cakes were serving for a birthday party. Suddenly, as she was about to help the young philly blow out the candles, her tail began to twitch. Immediately, she and the Cakes got down and covered their heads. All of the parents that were there grabbed their kids and got into position to shield their kids from whatever might be making Pinkiepie's tail twitch. After a long while with nothing happening, everypony began to relax. They all looked at Pinkiepie after getting up.

Pinkiepie paid no attention to their glares and, with a hoof under her chin, said more to herself than anypony else, "That's weird. My 'Pinkie Sense' has never let me down before."

She proceeded to hop out the door, looking around as she did. She needed to find out what was falling. Normally when something triggered her 'Pinkie Sense' it was in her immediate area. If something was triggering it from a distance, it must be something big that was falling. She needed to find out where it was to make sure that nopony got hurt.


	14. Chapter Fourteen-Pinkie's Sense

**Attention readers. It has been brought to my attention that I have been using the incorrect form of the word 'filly'. In all of my previous chapters, I have written 'philly'. I have decided it would be too much work to go back and change all of the chapters to be correct. So from here on out I will be using the correct form of the word. Thank you for your understanding! Now enjoy chapter fourteen.**

**- TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Fourteen-Pinkie's Sense**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Rainbowdash closed her eyes and awaited her inevitable demise.

…_WHACK!...CRASH!_

Rainbowdash cringed as these sounds vibrated off the walls of the valley. When it was finally quiet again, she opened her eyes and looked to her side. There was a massive dent in the wall where the boulder had hit it. The boulder laid, split, just underneath the dent. Rainbowdash looked the other way and jumped when she saw Dragonshy standing on the other side of the river. His tail was that of a dragon's. It was monstrous in size. It was black with neon-green spikes running along the length of it. Before Rainbowdash could say anything, there was a rumbling sound. Rainbowdash looked back at where the boulder had stricken the wall. A very large crack had formed and began running up the side of the wall. She followed the crack up the wall and her eyes stopped when she saw thousands of rocks falling from the top of the gorge. Still unable to move, she laid there helpless.

Dragonshy was just as surprised as Rainbowdash was to see his tail in this form. He had not even tried to change form. All he did was think to himself that, if he could, he would reach over and knock the boulder aside to save Rainbowdash. Before he could further question these happenings, he too noticed the rocks falling. He figured that, if he could do this with his tail, then he should just go all the way. As he ran, he closed his eyes and though as hard as he could about what he wanted to change into. It did not take long for the image of a dragon to pop into his head. He opened his eyes just as he reached Rainbowdash's side. He focused his energy as best as he could. He concentrated and concentrated, but nothing happened. He wasn't changing at all. In fact, his tail had actually receded to its former shape without him noticing. Seeing that the rocks were now only seconds away and not knowing what else to do, Dragonshy jumped to stand over Rainbowdash. He was prepared to shield her with his body. He closed his eyes and braced for impact.

…

Pinkiepie was walking though the outskirts of Ponyville. She needed to find out what fell. While she was looking under a bird's nest, her tail twitched again. Pinkiepie gasped and ran off in a random direction. She was now able to find the location of the falling because her tail would not stop twitching. When she faced the direction of the fall, her tail would twitch faster. This meant that there were a lot of things falling at once. She was really worried now and was running as fast as she could to get to the site of the falling.

After a few minutes of running, she happened across a huge crevice. She looked down and saw a giant mound of ruble at the bottom. She figured that must have been what was making her 'Pinkie Sense' go off.

She put her hoof to her mouth and yelled, "IS EVERYPONY OK DOWN THERE?!"

Her only response was a rumbling sound. Her tail twitched again.

She rolled her eyes and said, "What's falling NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOW?!"

As she had been talking to herself, the ground beneath her gave way. She was now in a state of free fall. She thought to herself for a moment and raised her hoof as she got an idea. She reached behind her back and pulled an umbrella out of nowhere. She held it above her head and opened it. She began to fall at an unrealistically slow rate. Pinkiepie smiled in satisfaction of her quick thinking. She was falling so slowly now that she was able to look around. She looked at the mound of ruble that had been there when she got there and saw something move. She squinted and, still unable to see, pulled some binoculars from behind her head (again out of nowhere). She looked and saw a giant black claw with neon-green talons force itself to the surface of the ruble. Pinkiepie wanted to investigate further, so she blew into the umbrella which directed it towards the mound of ruble. As she was doing this, the claw had taken hold of the surface and seemed to drag something up from beneath it. A dragon's head poked out and soon an entire dragon was standing on top of the mound. Pinkiepie gasped and began blowing on the umbrella to go the other way. She looked back in time to see the dragon begin to shrink. The dragon placed what looked like a limp form of Rainbowdash on the ground and continued to shrink. Eventually, a dangerously skinny Dragonshy was all that remained of the terrifying dragon. Pinkiepie saw this and resumed blowing on the umbrella in its original direction.

Dragonshy could barely move. He was too tired to even stand. He dropped on the ground just inches from Rainbowdash and began to breathe shorter breaths as it hurt him to take in air. He could feel his consciousness dwindling. The last thing he remembered seeing, which he was convinced was an illusion, was Pinkiepie land on the ground with an umbrella.

…

Dragonshy opened his eyes very slowly. The sun was setting now. He wondered how long he had laid there. He then wondered how he was still alive. He looked forward and saw his answer. Rainbowdash was lying on the ground in front of him and holding his hoof. When he looked at her, she gave a very weak smile and closed her eyes in exhaustion. He felt that he was able stand up and did so.

He cracked his neck, looked around, and nearly had a heart attack when he saw Pinkiepie just inches from his face saying very excitedly, "Hey there… Dragon."

She instantly fell onto the ground as she laughed, "Ha ha ha! Dragon! Get it? Since you were actually a dragon?"

Dragonshy's eyes widened as he remembered the recent events. She was right. He had turned into a dragon. He looked down at his hooves and back at his tail. Everything was back to normal now.

He smiled to Pinkiepie and said, "Yeah, good one Pinkie. Hey, do you know where Rainbowdash's house is?" when Pinkiepie nodded, Dragonshy asked a follow up question, "Can you lead me there?"

She nodded, waved her hoof in the air, and exclaimed, "Sure, pick up your mare and follow me there!"

Dragonshy smiled and shook his head at Pinkiepie's rhyme. He carefully slumped Rainbowdash onto his back and turned to follow his hopping guide.

…

After an hour of walking, Dragonshy almost ran into Pinkiepie when she stopped suddenly.

Confused, he asked, "What's wrong Pinkie?"

Pinkiepie turned to him and pointed up with her hoof, "Nothing's wrong, you silly filly. We're here."

With a raised eyebrow, Dragonshy looked up and his jaw dropped at what he saw. Floating above them was a mansion made entirely of clouds.

He shook off his amazement and said, "Thanks Pinkie, I'll take it from here."

Pinkiepie nodded and began to hop in the direction of Ponyville. Dragonshy flew up to stand on what represented a front lawn. He was thoroughly impressed with the outside of the house. It was a roman-style house with waterfalls flowing with rainbow-colored liquid running into small ponds in front of the house. He walked up to the front doors and pushed them open. He walked in and they shut behind him. After ten minutes of searching, he found a bedroom that he figured was Rainbowdash's (judging from all the posters of the Wonderbolts everywhere). Dragonshy carefully laid Rainbowdash down in her bed and took a seat at the bedside. He wanted to make sure that she didn't wake up in pain, so he was going to stay there with her. However, he quickly fell asleep.

…

In the middle of the night, Rainbowdash woke up and was surprised to find herself in her bed at her house. Most of the pain in her body was gone and the pain that was left was bearable. She heard a deep breath and turned to see Dragonshy sleeping with the lower half of his body hanging off the side of her bed. She smiled and pulled him up. She snuggled up next to him and found herself feeling much more relaxed and calm in this position. She quickly fell asleep as well.

…

Their peaceful sleep was interrupted by the sound of Pinkiepie's voice amplified by a megaphone very early in the morning, "WAKE UP!"

Dragonshy and Rainbowdash snapped awake and they instantly jumped out of the bed. Both of their faces were bright red with embarrassment.

Hoping to take his mind off of the awkward situation he was just in and would definitely have to deal with later, he asked, "What's wrong Pinkie?"

Rainbowdash chimed in, "Yeah, can't you see we were sleeping to…geth…er…"

Rainbowdash and Dragonshy looked at each other and Rainbowdash said, "Uh… bathroom!"

With that she darted out of the room.

Before Dragonshy could do anything, Pinkiepie jumped in front of him and said, "Have you seen my 'Penta P'?"

Dragonshy looked puzzled and answered, "Was that the briefcase you had with you when we first got on the train?"

Pinkiepie said, "Oh no! I knew it! I left it on the train when Twilight teleported us. Dragonshy, Princess Celestia said you have to spend a day with each of us, right? Well I am cashing my day in right now. You have to help me find it."

Dragonshy thought about it for a moment but got distracted and asked, "Wait a second… how are you standing on the clouds, Pinkie?"

Pinkiepie thought about it for a second and responded, "I don't really kn…"

Before she could finish, she fell through the floor of the bedroom.

Dragonshy was worried that she might have gotten hurt until he heard her voice yell up to him, "I'll meet you at the train station!"

Dragonshy decided that it would be best for him to go help her. Not only for the fact that he needed her to write a good report but also to avoid talking to Rainbowdash about their… sleeping arrangement.

He was walking out the door when he yelled behind him, "Rainbowdash, I'm going out with Pinkiepie! We'll probably be back late!"

Rainbowdash's head poked out from around the corner and exclaimed, "Wait… WHAT?!"

It was too late. Dragonshy was already flying in the direction of the train station.

…

Dragonshy got to the train station and saw Pinkiepie waiting for him.

She asked, "Dragon, I have no idea how to start our search."

Dragonshy rolled his eyes, turned to a conductor, and said, "Excuse me, sir. We left something on a train a couple of days ago. How might we go about getting it back?"

The conductor shrugged and said, "You could check the lost and found. It's out behind the building."

Dragonshy nodded his thanks as he and Pinkiepie headed for the lost and found. When they turned the corner they were met by a gray unicorn with a black mane and the number five as a cutie mark. In his hoof was the suitcase that they were looking for.

Pinkiepie, with obvious distain for the pony in front of her, nearly spat his name as if it were a curse word, "Pentapus."

The unicorn smiled, laughed maniacally, and asked, "Looking for this, Miss Pie?"

Pinkiepie lunged for him. He teleported to where she had been standing. Dragonshy attempted to grab him but he teleported a short distance from the both of them.

He laughed again and said, "I have waited so many years to acquire this and I will not be giving it up so easily. If you want it back that badly, you know where to find me."

He then teleported once more but, this time, he did not appear anywhere close to them.

Dragonshy looked at Pinkiepie just as she said, "We need to get on the next train to Las Pegasus… now."


	15. Chapter Fifteen-Trek to Las Pegasus

**A Great Change: Chapter Fifteen-Trek to Lost Pegasus**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

"Sir, please make sure that your companion does not leave and bother the other guests again or I will have the unicorns strengthen their sleeping spell on this room."

As he said this, the director ushered an angry Pinkiepie back into the room.

Dragonshy just smiled and said, "Sorry, I'll make sure it doesn't happen again."

The director shook his head and left.

Dragonshy turned to Pinkiepie and said, "Pinkie, I thought you were going to use the bathroom."

Pinkiepie lay down on the extended seat and said, "I was, until I thought I saw him. I chased after him and he ran, so I was sure that it was him. I chased him right down to the end of the train but when he turned around, it wasn't him. I was about to interrogate him when that big meanie forced me back here."

Dragonshy turned from her to lock the door as he said, "Pinkie, you don't even know for sure if he is on the train. Even if he is, it would be better to wait until the train stops to catch him. OK? Pinkie?"

When he turned around, Pinkiepie was gone and the window was open.

Dragonshy poked his head out the window and yelled, "Pinkie!"

From inside the car, Pinkiepie responded with a quiet, "What?"

Dragonshy hit his head on the top of the window frame as he jumped with surprise. He turned around and saw Pinkiepie up on one of the bunks.

He rubbed his head and said, "Oh, I thought you jumped out the window."

Pinkiepie smiled and said, "No you silly filly. I just opened it to get some fresh air while I sleep," her smile disappeared as she continued, "But that's a great idea!"

Without any further warning, Pinkiepie launched herself out the window and rolled as she hit the ground. Dragonshy, not wanting to leave her alone, jumped out the window as well. However, he found that he instinctively slowed his velocity to the point of having control. He flew over to where Pinkiepie lay and gently shook her.

She jumped up and exclaimed, "Yes! We made it out of that room! Now we just need to get to the car that he is in."

Dragonshy raised an eyebrow and said, "Um… Pinkie. You didn't just leave our room, you jumped off the train. There is no way we can get back on it now."

Pinkiepie's face was one of deep thought.

Her serious expression was quickly replaced with one of excitement as she said, "Well… I guess we're hoofing it."

She began hopping alongside the tracks and Dragonshy quickly caught up to her as he voiced his opinion, "Hold on Pinkie, I only told Rainbowdash we that we would be gone for the day. I bet that they were expecting us back like two hours ago, it's already sundown. Don't you think that they will be worried?"

Pinkiepie did not stop or even slow down as she responded, "Don't worry, Dragon, I suspected Pentapus was behind this whole thing and I left a note for them."

…

In the kitchen at Sugarcube Corner, Rainbowdash, Twilight, and Applejack were looking for Dragonshy and Pinkiepie.

Twilight stopped looking and said, "I guess they're not here either."

Rainbowdash looked under the counter as she worriedly stated, "This is the last place they could be. Unless she took him out of Ponyville, we've checked everywhere else."

There was a knock at the door and all three of them knew who it was. There was only one pony that would knock on the front door to a store when it was still open.

Rainbowdash yelled, "Fluttershy, the store is open!"

Fluttershy slowly pushed the door open and said worriedly, "I heard that Dragonshy and Pinkiepie were missing."

Rainbowdash flew up to her and confirmed, "Yeah, I haven't seen either of them since this morning."

Fluttershy put her hoof to her chin and asked, "He didn't tell you what his plans were before he left?"

Rainbowdash got really close to Fluttershy and whispered into her ear, "He said he was going out with Pinkiepie."

Fluttershy stepped back and shook her head. She didn't even want to think of Pinkiepie and Dragonshy having a relationship. For some reason, she was ok with sharing Dragonshy with Rainbowdash but did not like the idea of sharing him with Pinkiepie at all.

Just when she was about to say something, Applejack popped up from behind the counter with a piece of paper in her mouth, spit it onto the counter and said, "Hey, everypony, I found a note from Pinkiepie."

Twilight brought the piece of paper over to her with her magic and read it aloud, "Hi everypony. Dragonshy and I are going to Las Pegasus. See you all later."

Fluttershy fainted and Rainbowdash yelled, "Las Pegasus?! There's no telling what those two are doing over there!"

Applejack and Twilight just stared at Rainbowdash, looked at each other, and Twilight stated while reading the note again, "Well, in any case, it does seem weird for her to bring Dragonshy to a place like Las Pegasus."

Rainbowdash couldn't wait any longer.

She threw Fluttershy over her shoulder and said, "We need to catch up with them now. Before anything happens between… I mean… to them."

The four of them got on the next train to Las Pegasus. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy were very worried. The only reasons ponies went to Las Pegasus together were to drink, gamble, party, and spend the night at hotels… together. They had no idea what would possess Pinkiepie to do such a thing as bring an unsuspecting pony to such a place but, whatever the reason, they desperately wanted to get to him before he did something that Rainbowdash would make him regret.

…

Pinkiepie and Dragonshy had settled down under a large tree that was about fifty meters from the tracks. Their plan was to spend the night there and set off for Lost Pegasus in the morning. They lay awake for a long time, neither of them willing to get some rest.

Eventually, Dragonshy broke the silence, "Pinkie, who exactly is this Pentapus guy?"

She gritted her teeth at the name and said, "He's a crazy pony that is obsessed with the number five. Ever since I first invented 'Pinkie Pie's Perfect party Pack' he's had his eyes on it and when I started calling it the 'Penta P', he felt that he absolutely had to have it. Anything that has to do with the number five is something that he wants and probably already has. He has been trying for years to get the 'Penta P' from me but I have been able to stop him every time… until now. I need that suitcase though. There is a filly with a birthday next week and I can't throw a proper party without it. Over the years I have come to know a little bit about Pentapus. I know that he is a wealthy pony in Las Pegasus and everything that he collects for his obsession is kept in one giant warehouse in Las Pegasus. We need to go there, break in, and take it back."

Dragonshy was surprised at this story. He had never seen Pinkiepie so serious before.

She was glaring off at nothing and then, suddenly, she turned to him with a huge smile on her face as she said, "Goodnight!"

She then instantly fell backwards and began to sleep. Dragonshy shook his head and relaxed against the tree. He couldn't help but think about how much of a weird pony Pinkiepie was. Eventually, sleep overtook him as well and they both had a rough sleep on the ground beneath the tree.

…

They woke up the next morning. As Dragonshy woke up, he got worried as he felt a slight hunger pain. This was not a good sign. Unlike normal ponies, once a changeling's hunger pains start, their deterioration rate gradually increases. However, Dragonshy was unaware of how dangerous his situation actually was and just ignored it.

The two of them set off down the tracks. After walking for the entire day, Las Pegasus was in sight.

Pinkiepie turned and yelled, "Look, there it is, Dragonshy…"

She trailed off as she saw him lying on the ground a little ways behind her.

She went back and said to him, "Come on you lazy bones. You can sleep when we get there…"

Her smile disappeared when he didn't answer.

He slowly looked up at her and said, very weakly, "I need energy. I need energy now."

Pinkiepie smiled and asked, "Well why didn't you just say so?"

Pinkiepie cleared her throat and said, "So a donkey walks into a bar and the bartender looks at him and asks,… 'Why the long face?!'"

Pinkiepie laughed hysterically at her own joke and Dragonshy could not help but let out a small chuckle at Pinkiepie's antics. Just after he had chuckled, he felt his strength returning. He was soon able to stand up. He looked at himself in amazement for he had actually grown back all the muscle that had deteriorated during that little episode he had.

He stared at Pinkiepie and asked, "What did you just do? How did you do that?"

Pinkiepie motioned for him to follow her as she hopped along the tracks and explained, "Well you did say that you feed off of love. I think that the best way for somepony to show that they really care for somepony else is to laugh with them. Laughter is the best way for ponies to connect."

Dragonshy was impressed and said, "Well I am still feeling a little light-headed. Do you have any more?"

Pinkiepie grew excited and said, "Tons! Like, did I ever tell you the one about the campsite that was on fire?"

Dragonshy looked puzzled, "No you didn't."

Pinkiepie giggled a bit before saying, "Well trust me… it's _in tents_," They both laughed for a moment before she moved on, "What about the one with the jump rope?"

Before waiting for a response, she continued, "Well skip it."

They both laughed again. Dragonshy could tell that the last hour of walking was going to be rather enjoyable.

…

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbowdash, and Fluttershy's train let them off just as the sun was rising in the distance. Without wasting any time, Rainbowdash took to the air and began patrolling the skies.

Fluttershy, before joining Rainbowdash, said to Twilight and Applejack, "Um… we're uh… going to uh… search from above. Um… could you two uh… search down here?"

Twilight managed a smile as she responded, "Sure, Fluttershy, and don't worry. We'll find them before anything bad happens to them."

Fluttershy smiled back and went to help Rainbowdash look from above.

…

The four of them searched all day but had no luck in finding the two ponies that they were looking for. They were now walking down the street, looking for a place that seemed safe enough to rest in. That was easier said than done. Every establishment looked run-down and dangerous. The ones that didn't look that way were too expensive for any of them to afford to rest there. Eventually, they turned a corner and Twilight bumped into a white unicorn with a bright-blue mane and black goggles that had purple lenses.

Shaking her head, the unicorn said, "My bad, you ok… Twilight?!"

Twilight looked and stated the pony's name in disbelief, "Viñyl?! Viñyl Scratch?"

Viñyl put her hoof to her chest and said, "The one 'n only," she looked behind Twilight, saw all the others, and asked, "Whatchya doin here in Las Pegasus?"

Twilight was about to answer when Rainbowdash flew in and said, "Never mind that. Why are you here?"

Viñyl laughed and said, "I'm here ta DJ for a club down the street. I was headin there now. Hey! Why dontchya come with me? You can listen ta my music 'n then I'll getchya somethin ta eat. You guys look hungry."

They all agreed and thanked Viñyl for her kind offer. They all went toward a club that had previously denied all of them access. Viñyl gave the bouncer a wave and he let them all in. Once inside, they all gazed at the lights from magic rays being shot around everywhere that lit up the entire room without the use of any candles. This was their first time in a night club.


	16. Chapter Sixteen-Dubbed Two-Step

**A Great Change: Chapter Sixteen-Dubbed Two-Step**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy and Pinkiepie had made it to Las Pegasus a couple hours after the sun had set. They looked all over for a place where they could spend the night that was clean and not too expensive. In the end, they couldn't find one that they approved of. Pinkiepie led Dragonshy to an office building that looked like it was closed since all the lights were off. She jumped onto the window-washer lift that was on the ground. She waved to Dragonshy for him to jump on as well. As soon as he put his last hoof on the metal caging that made the floor, Pinkiepie did not give him a second to prepare himself and began turning the crank on the side that made them go up. Eventually, they made it to the roof and they both stepped off. Pinkiepie hopped over to a tool shed and checked the doorknob. The door was locked. Her face became serious for a moment as she tried to figure out what to do.

She turned to Dragonshy and asked, "Hey, Dragon, what's that behind your ear?"

Before Dragonshy could say anything in protest, Pinkiepie nuzzled her nose under his ear.

Dragonshy jumped back and asked, "What're you…"

He stopped when he saw the key in Pinkiepie's mouth. She stuck it in the lock, turned it, opened the door, and tossed the key inside.

Pinkiepie walked in and, after realizing Dragonshy had stayed standing outside, she stuck her head out to ask, "Are you coming in or are you going to sleep out there all night?"

Dragonshy shook himself out of his thought and questioned her as he felt behind his ear with his hoof, "Where did you get that from, Pinkie?"

Pinkiepie seemed puzzled by the question and answered, "From behind your ear. You were right there when I got it, silly."

Dragonshy decided that it would be useless to press further. He walked inside to find that it was a single room. It was mostly empty aside from the tools that were piled against the far wall. Pinkiepie lay down in the corner and closed her eyes to sleep. Dragonshy laid up against the door and quickly fell asleep as well.

…

At the night club, Viñyl, Twilight, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rainbowdash were all sitting in a booth that was at the back corner of the room. Twilight was taking forever to order her food because she had a problem with the menu.

Twilight questioned the waitress, "So you mean that this place absolutely does not offer any kind of non-alcoholic beverage?"

The waitress was very annoyed now and said, "No, we do not carry any non-alcoholic drinks. If you don't want one then don't order one. Ask me one more time and I'll have you thrown out. Now, would you like something to drink?"

Twilight opened her mouth to talk but was stopped by Applejack's hoof covering her mouth as Applejack smiled politely and ordered for her, "Um… she'll just have a grape soft drink, miss."

The waitress nodded and stomped away from the table.

Rainbowdash picked her head off of the table and said, "Finally. Leave it to Twilight to take ten minutes to order a drink."

Viñyl laughed and said, "Well I gotta get up there. I should be done wit the first performance by the time the food gets 'er. One of ya order me some hay fries?"

Rainbowdash hoof-pumped Viñyl and said, "No problem. Knock them dead."

Viñyl gave a nod, put the head phones that were around her neck over her ears, and walked up the stairs to the stage. Viñyl pressed a few buttons and all that was left of the music that was playing was the backbeat.

She grabbed the microphone and exclaimed, "Hey there all ya party animals! Ya gotch yoselves a new DJ 'er, t'night! They got me to raise the beats so high ya won't be able ta see 'em and then ima drop the base so low that ya won't know what hitchya. Now putch yo hooves up for DJ-PON3!"

As she finished her speech, she shot some magic into the air and spelled out her name on the ceiling above the crowd. The backbeat that had been playing through her speech quickly picked up speed and volume until it melded together into a high-pitched screech. Then it went quiet for a moment. Only for a moment though, because she instantly began playing some very hyper-active music and her name in the ceiling began to dissipate while sending out blue pulses over the walls in time with the music.

Soon after the music had started, two stallions walked up to the table and tried to look as cool as they could.

One of them talked but had to yell to be heard over the music, "Hey, you two wanna dance?"

He had been addressing Applejack and Twilight. Twilight was about to turn him down when Applejack stepped between them and said, "Sounds like a hoot. Let's go Twilight."

Without being able to protest, Twilight was grabbed by Applejack and thrown into the stallion's arms. They all laughed and the four of them went to join the crowd that gathered on the dance floor.

Rainbowdash looked at the crowd, looked at Fluttershy, took a deep breath, and suggested, "Hey Fluttershy, how about me and you go dance?"

Fluttershy blushed and said, "Oh, I don't know Rainbowdash. I'm not really much of a dancer…"

Rainbowdash took that as a yes and pulled Fluttershy out of the booth. Rainbowdash began dancing and, after a little motivation, Fluttershy began dancing with her.

…

About an hour later, the five of them were sitting back at the booth, eating their food.

Rainbowdash couldn't help but be impressed with Viñyl's music and said, "You were awesome up there, Viñyl. What kind of music was that? I've never heard it before."

Viñyl gulped down her hay fries before answering, "That's 'cause it's my own 'nvention. I took the two-step 'n dubbed it wit more beats 'n made it faster. Ima call it… Dubstep!"

Rainbowdash thought for a second and said, "That's got a nice ring to it. How come you didn't use your real name?"

Viñyl smiled and said, "All the famous ponies 'ave fake names. It's ta keep those… spirited fans off yo flank. Like the Wonderbolts' fake names."

Rainbowdash spit out the drink she had been sipping, soaking Applejack in her root beer.

She turned to Viñyl and said, "What?! Those aren't their real names? No wonder I couldn't find where they lived when I broke into the Cloudsdale capital…"

She trailed off when she saw the other ponies staring at her and said, "I mean… oh whatever. So I'm a spirited fan… sue me."

They all laughed and continued with their meal. Viñyl had to go up three more times before she was done. They were all walking out through the back exit. They were turning the corner to head out of the alley when their path was blocked by three rough-looking stallions.

While the other four ponies backed up, Viñyl asked, "Ya lose somethin' back 'ere?"

The one in the front stepped forward and said, "Na, but we're just lookin' for somepony to keep us company t'night."

Viñyl came back quickly, "Well ya seem ta be pretty close wit yo friends over there. I'm sure they would be more than happy ta spend the night wit you."

The stallion gritted his teach at the insult and said, "Yer first!"

Just as he was about to lunge at her, she whistled through her teeth very loudly. This sudden outburst stopped the thug in his tracks. He heard a sound and turned around to see that the bouncer from out front had appeared at the entrance to the alley. He smiled as he saw his two friends jump on the bouncer but his smile quickly disappeared when he could see that they were clearly losing their fight. He figured he had enough time to grab one of the mares in front of him and run off.

He took a menacing step forward and Viñyl said to the other four behind her as she put her headphones on, "You'd better cover yo ears, girls."

All of them quickly obliged. The thug took another step towards her. Viñyl took in a deep breath and began to scream. The scream was loud and incredibly high-pitched. Her horn began to glow with a light blue magic. When this happened, the sound waves from her scream became visible. The thug backed down and covered his ears in an attempt to stop the pain that was entering his head. After a few seconds, he lay on the floor unconscious. By the time he went down, the bouncer had knocked out the other two and threw all three into a pile of garbage across the street.

Viñyl turned to her friends, who all had their mouths gaping open at what they had just experienced.

Rainbowdash was the first to regain her voice, "That was awesome! Where did you learn to do that?"

Viñyl smiled as she answered, "My dad taught it ta me b'fore he left. He's a musician too, so he taught me some sound magic ta make my music louder without amps. Anyway, you guys got a place ta crash t'night?"

Their silence was all the answer she needed. She gestured for all of them to follow and they all began walking down the street. Before too long, they stopped in front of an impressive looking casino.

Applejack said, "Hold up there, Sugarcube. I thought we were all heading to your place."

Viñyl kept on walking as she responded, "My place is in Ponyville. I've got m'self a room 'ere when I'm workin'."

They all went up the stairs and filed into the room that Viñyl had lead them to. It was huge and it had two bedrooms, a kitchen, two bathrooms, and a huge living room that had a window overlooking the city. Viñyl jumped on the couch, got herself comfortable, took off her glasses and headphones, and closed her eyes.

She waved her hoof around in the air as she said to nopony in particular, "There are two rooms 'ere. I normally sleep on the couch anyway, so yer all welcome ta what's 'ere."

They were all exhausted. They each thanked Viñyl for inviting them and split up to sleep in the rooms. Applejack and Twilight took one room, while Rainbowdash and Fluttershy took the other. They all settled in for a good night's sleep.

…

Morning broke and sunlight shined right into Dragonshy's face through a hole in the far wall that he had not noticed the night before. He got up, unable to sleep with that kind of light, and began to stretch.

Pinkiepie got up soon after and exclaimed, "I'm hungry!"

Dragonshy decided the night before that he was no longer going to bother himself in asking about Pinkiepie's antics. They got into the lift and Dragonshy took the liberty of lowering them down. When they got to the bottom, they were met by two stallions that looked very annoyed.

One of them said, "And what do you two think you're doing using our equipment?"

Pinkiepie said, "Oh! You want a cupcake? I'll get you a cup cake! And you look like a pony that knows his was around a doughnut. Wait here I'll be right back."

With that, Pinkiepie was gone. The two workers quickly got over their shock and glared at Dragonshy. Dragonshy couldn't think of anything else to do except manage a weak smile. To his relief, Pinkiepie was back before the situation escalated anymore. She was balancing a box on her head. When she got to them, she put the box down, opened it, handed one of the stallions a cupcake, gave the other one a doughnut, and got out a couple of bagels for her and Dragonshy.

The one worker took a bite of his doughnut and asked through a mouthful, "How did you know that apple fritters were my favorite?"

The other one took a bit of his cupcake and said, "And you got me a watermelon cupcake? I never told anypony that I liked those."

Pinkiepie threw her bagel in the air, caught it, ate it in one bite, and answered, "Does it matter? If you like it, then eat it. Me and my friend have to go now. Bye!"

Pinkiepie and Dragonshy walked off, leaving two puzzled workers alone to enjoy their favorite treats.

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "Alright Pinkie, what's the plan?"

Pinkiepie said very seriously, "Get to the warehouse, get the 'Penta P', and get out."

Dragonshy took this as the best explanation he was going to get and just followed her through the city. He could tell that this was going to be an interesting day.


	17. Chapter Seventeen-Mission Inpinkieble

**A Great Change: Chapter Seventeen-Mission Inpinkieble**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy had been following Pinkiepie for about twenty minutes before they stopped at an expensive-looking casino. Dragonshy was surprised to see that, rather than taking the front entrance, Pinkiepie walked to the back alley. Dragonshy cautiously followed her. They kept on walking behind the building until they found a big iron door. Pinkiepie looked at Dragonshy and began to make hoof-signals. She was obviously trying to tell him something, but the actions that she was doing made no sense. At one point in her silent speech, she floated in the air and acted like she was in a canoe. Dragonshy just stared at her with the blank stare that he had not used in a while.

Pinkiepie smacked herself on the forehead, walked behind some garbage cans, and whispered, "I said stand over here and follow my lead."

Dragonshy was greatly disturbed as to how he was supposed to get that statement out of her actions. He just shook his head and obliged. She reached behind her back and pulled out of nowhere what looked like four heads to toilet plungers. She fastened them onto her hooves and proceeded to climb the wall. She positioned herself just above the door. She knocked on the door. A huge earth-pony jumped out, swinging the door open, and went directly into a battle stance. He looked confused and began to look up and down the alley to see who might have knocked on the door. Dragonshy watched from behind the trash cans as Pinkiepie climbed down and through the now open door. He waited for the guard to turn around and sped through the doorway as well. Pinkiepie was in a hallway on the other side, waiting for him. When he caught up, she started to walk down the hallway and Dragonshy followed. He was curious as to why she decided to continue to walk on the ceiling, but dismissed the question.

Eventually, they came to a room that was labeled 'Security Personnel Only'. Pinkiepie had taken off her plungers some time back but had gotten a confetti launcher from somewhere. Equipped with the launcher, she barged through the door and pulled the cord twice. The confetti hadn't come out in one big cloud as it was supposed to do. Instead, each time she pulled the cord, a concentrated ball of confetti shot out. Each one hit a guard square in the head and exploded on contact. Both guards, that had been sitting down to watch the monitors that were the security cameras, were now on the ground and unconscious. The only evidence of a struggle was the piles of confetti covering their bodies.

Pinkiepie had a menacing smile, but her eyes were serious as she said very calmly, "Surprise."

Pinkiepie went and sat at the desk. She grabbed a mug of coffee that was sitting on the desk and held it over the keyboard.

She turned to Dragonshy and said, "Watch the hallway to make sure nopony shows up. This hacking is going to take some time."

Dragonshy began to walk away when Pinkiepie started to slowly pour the coffee over the keyboard. She was very precise in her placement. As soon as he was in the hallway, he was met with three guards running straight for him. Dragonshy's body began to move on its own again, a feeling that he was becoming used to. He used his wings to propel himself into the wall behind him. He then used the immense strength in his legs to push himself off the wall, which sent him flying at an incredible speed straight for his pursuers. He ran full-force into the one in the middle, knocking the wind out of the guard. The guards had quickly changed the direction of their charge and went for him again. Dragonshy attempted the same maneuver again, but they saw it coming and they both moved out of the way. Dragonshy soared right in between them and opened his wings to redirect his attack. He spun around and one of the guards was met with a double-hoofed blow to the side of the face, sending him sprawling into the other guard. The first one had gotten up and attempted to buck Dragonshy in his side. Dragonshy instantly reacted and ducked, allowing the guard's legs to go above him. Dragonshy rolled and bucked the guard's fore-hooves out from under him. Dragonshy then jumped to his feet and proceeded to buck the guard when he was in mid-air. The guard was sent flying into the other two, who had been getting up. All three of them were on the ground and had no intention of getting up to fight Dragonshy again. Dragonshy heard movement and turned around to see seven more guards at the end of the hallway. Dragonshy readied himself to fight all of them when Pinkiepie came bounding out the room. She stood in front of Dragonshy, looking at the opposing guards, with a ball of confetti in her mouth. Dragonshy looked into the room that she had been in and saw that the screens, that had shown what all the security cameras were seeing, were now just showing static. The guards at the end of the hallway began their charge. Before they could gain a yard, Pinkiepie spat the confetti ball onto the floor. It exploded and the amount of confetti blinded even Dragonshy. He had to close his eyes to avoid getting any confetti in them. When he opened them again, he was astonished to see that they were no longer in the hallway. They were now in a huge room, confronted with a giant safe that took up the entire wall.

Dragonshy could only manage to ask, "Where are we?"

Pinkiepie walked up to the safe as she said, "We're in the back room to the casino. This casino is owned by Pentapus and this safe is the entrance to the warehouse that he keeps his treasures in."

Pinkiepie began tapping on the safe at different points, checking for a week point, and Dragonshy said, "Pinkie, you won't be able to get that thing open without the code."

Pinkiepie looked at him, smiled very happily, and said, "Dragon, you're right!"

She took hold of the dial that was on the safe and simply turned it so that the arrow was pointing to the number five on the dial. There was a click and the door began to swing open. Dragonshy just sighed and shrugged his shoulders, deciding that the code she just entered was the first thing to make sense that day. When the safe opened all the way, it revealed none other than Pentapus himself. He was standing there with a smirk on his face as he dangled Pinkiepie's suitcase in front of them.

Teasing them, he asked, "Looking for this, Miss Pie?"

Pinkiepie yelled, "Give it back, Penta!"

Pentapus replied, "I'm afraid that's not an option."

His horn glowed and a skylight above them opened. Pentapus' horn continued to glow and a giant sling-shot floated out from the huge pile of junk that filled the warehouse behind him. The sling-shot came to rest directly behind him. He jumped backward, pulling the sling-shot back with his momentum, and launched himself through the skylight. Pinkiepie, without hesitation, jumped into the sling-shot and launched herself after him. Dragonshy, not wanting to risk traveling by sling-shot flew out the skylight after them. He got outside in time to see them crash through a window in the side of the building. He began the ascent to the window. He was getting tired of this entire adventure. There was too much randomness for him to handle. He decided that he would go up there and end it, no matter what.

…

Twilight, Applejack, Rainbowdash, and Fluttershy were all sleeping in. Viñyl was the only pony that got up at her regular time. She saw them still sleeping and decided that it would be best not to wake them. They were not as used to partying all night as she was. The alcohol had ceased to affect her and she found that she could function normally after a short sleep. She took the liberty of going to get breakfast for everypony.

After Viñyl had left, the sound of the door closing behind her woke up Fluttershy, who was a very light sleeper. She felt a very warm and fluffy pillow next to her. It's warmth brought her so much comfort that she snuggled up closer to it, hugging it and resting her head on it. She quickly fell back asleep. After a little while, there was a knock on the door and Twilight entered the room.

Fluttershy, who had woken up at the sound of the knock, lifted her head to greet her friend, "Oh, good morning Twilight. Did you sleep well?"

Twilight was distracted by something in the room she just came from, so she wasn't looking at her, and turned around as she said, "Viñyl brought some great-looking food for breakfast. Wake up Rainbow and… oh, I didn't mean to interrupt anything."

Twilight ended her sentence attempting to hide her smile. All she could see was Rainbowdash, cuddled up with Fluttershy, and Fluttershy's head just barely looking over Rainbowdash's mane.

Fluttershy was puzzled and began, "Rainbowdash? What are you…"

Fluttershy squeaked a scream, jumped out of the bed, and hovered above the bed. The thing she had thought was a pillow was actually Rainbowdash.

Fluttershy put her hooves to her mouth and glanced at Twilight as she was walking out the door saying, "Well you two get situated and then come on out for breakfast."

Fluttershy slowly went up to Rainbowdash and carefully shook her awake.

Rainbowdash lifted herself into a sitting position, holding her head, and said, "Ugh, my head hurts," she looked around and asked, "Where the hay am I?" her eyes came to rest on Fluttershy and she jumped out of the bed in celebration as she exclaimed, "Yes! I spent the night, drunk, with Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy couldn't help but laugh at Rainbowdash's reaction to the situation. Fluttershy landed to stand next to Rainbowdash and nudged her out the door. When they entered the main room, they saw the other three already at the table, eating. Rainbowdash rushed to the table and began chowing down. Fluttershy walked up and took a seat next to her. She began to carefully fill her plate with food.

Viñyl began, "So how'd ya sleep?"

Twilight answered, "Restlessly. I had to get up two or three times to throw up last night."

They all stared at her and laughed.

Twilights was puzzled and asked, "What's so funny?"

Applejack answered through stifled enjoyment, "Twilight, you done had the least to drink outa all of us here. We each had four or five rounds while you never finished your first glass."

Applejack started laughing again so Rainbowdash continued, "Yeah, and your drink was the least alcoholic one on the menu. Heck, Fluttershy's drink was stronger."

Fluttershy blushed and said, "I just loved the sound of 'Honey Nectar Ale'. I didn't think it was that bad."

Rainbowdash threw her hoof over Fluttershy's shoulders and said, "Don't sweat it, Fluttershy. I'm pretty psyched to know you can hold your drink," Rainbowdash looked at Viñyl and continued, "but you were really impressive. You had two drinks every time you went up to DJ."

Viñyl puffed out her chest and said, "I can 'old my drink…"

She was cut off from finishing her boast when there was a loud crash. All of them jumped out of their seats in response and faced the object that came through the window. It was a unicorn holding a briefcase.

He stood up, picked up the suitcase, and said, "My apologies, Miss Scratch. I assure you that you will not be billed for this. No problems, you were leaving today anyway… right?"

With that he began to walk towards the door but there was a second crash and Pinkiepie rammed into the unicorn. They rolled across the room and they ended with Pinkiepie on top of him, pinning him to the ground.

She said to him, "It's over, Penta!"

He grabbed the suitcase that had fallen next to him and his horned glowed briefly as he teleported to the other side of the room, next to the hole he had made in the window.

He smiled and said, "It's only over when I say that it's over, Miss Pie."

His horn glowed and hoof-cuffs shot out from the walls to restrain all the mares that were in front of him.

He chuckled and continued, "Well, Miss Pie, it seems you have involved ponies that should not be involved."

He said this gesturing to the rest of the ponies in the room. Pinkiepie looked and saw that they were her friends.

She excitedly said, "Hi everypony! What are you all doing here in Las Pegasus?"

They all just stared at her and she smacked herself in the forehead saying, "Oh, how silly of me. Everyone, this is Pentapus. Pentapus, these are my friends from Ponyville. That's Rainbowdash, Twilight…"

Pinkiepie found that a muzzle had been put over her mouth and Pentapus said, "So, these are your friends? Well I guess I can't let them go. No matter, I have the 'Penta P'! I am victorious this time, Miss Pie!"

He let out a long, maniacal laugh after finishing his sentence. As he was laughing, Dragonshy flew through the hole in the window and landed to stand behind Pentapus. Dragonshy interrupted Pentapus' laugh by tapping him on the shoulder.

Pentapus stopped, began to turn around, and began, "What could possibly be so important…"

He was unable to finish, since Dragonshy socked him right in the jaw. Pentapus slid across the floor, unconscious. The cuffs on everypony fell to the ground. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy wasted no time in rushing to Dragonshy.

They both hugged him and he asked, "Rainbowdash? Fluttershy? What are you two doing here?" he looked up, saw the rest of them, and continued, "Applejack and Twilight too? Why are you all here?"

Fluttershy backed away and said, "We were so worried about you that we came here to look for you."

Dragonshy asked, "Worried? Pinkiepie said she left a note."

Rainbowdash answered this time, "Yeah, it was that note that made us worried. Do you have any idea what happens in Las Pegasus?"

Viñyl butted in, standing next to Dragonshy, and said, "Nopony knows what happens 'ere. 'Cause what happens in Las Pegasus stays in Las Pegasus."

They all laughed at the joke and Pinkiepie exclaimed, "We're all together now! This calls for a celebration!"

She opened the suitcase and frowned.

Dragonshy asked, "What's wrong, Pinkie?"

Pinkiepie lifted up the suitcase, revealing folded clothes, and said, "This isn't my suitcase…"

…

Back at the train station in Ponyville, Captain Fear was disguised as a pegasus from the Canterlot Elite Guard along with two other Changelings in similar disguises. He was very annoyed because one of the Changelings had left his suitcase on the train and they had to go back to get it. The Changeling reached into the lost and found box and took out the suitcase that looked like his.

Captain Fear said, "Make sure everything is in there. You had our fake I.D.'s."

The Changeling clicked the buckles on the suitcase and it flung itself open. Confetti and balloons shot everywhere and, when they looked at the suitcase, there was a cake in it that looked like it would have been too big to fit in the suitcase.

Captain Fear went over and thumped the Changeling on the head, knocking him to the ground. It was going to be near impossible for them to get into the Grand Galloping Gala now.


	18. Chapter Eighteen-Starting Work

**A Great Change: Chapter Eighteen-Starting Work**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Everypony was on the train ride to Ponyville, including Viñyl. The usual room was too small for their group, so they had been given a bunk-car all to themselves. Viñyl had been impressed that Twilight got them such excellent service for being the Princess' student. Dragonshy had thought he would have been tired after his exhausting adventure with Pinkiepie. He was not even a little bit tired when he walked onto the train. He figured that Fluttershy and Rainbowdash were so excited about seeing him, that he was receiving energy from them continuously. Once everypony had sat down, Twilight took out a quill and paper, levitating them in front of her.

Twilight said, "From what little I know about what you two did, it is my understanding that this was the time you were required to spend with Pinkiepie. Correct?" after a nod from Pinkiepie and Dragonshy, she continued, "It is imperative that I get a full report of what happened from the very beginning while the memory is still fresh in your minds. So, Pinkiepie, this is supposed to be in your words. Tell us exactly what you and Dragonshy did since you left Ponyville."

Fluttershy and Rainbowdash could not help but move closer to hear the story. They were still a little worried that something might have happened between Dragonshy and Pinkiepie.

…

After a very long story from Pinkiepie, who did as instructed and spared no little detail, Twilight placed the paper she was using on a stack of paper next to her. The stack was a couple feet tall and it was all a word-for-word account of what happened in Las Pegasus. Twilight was the only one who listened until the end of the story. Applejack went to her bunk and fell asleep. Viñyl put her headphones on and her horn glowed as they were surrounded by a dark-blue aura. Music could clearly be heard coming from her headphones and it was all mostly base. Dragonshy was just relaxing on his bunk laying with Rainbowdash's head on his back and Fluttershy snuggling up next to him. He had been embarrassed, at first, to be in this position with them but they persisted and he eventually gave in. He quite liked it though. There was this warm, relaxing feeling accompanied by the feeling of anticipation. He didn't know what he was anticipating but he felt as if he was so relaxed that he would be able to take on anything without thinking twice of it. Twilight went to sleep and Pinkiepie became bored and began to fold all of the paper that Twilight had used into origami animals.

…

They were all woken up by a crash in the car next to them.

A conductor promptly walked in and announced, "Apologies, mares, we dropped some glass and that was the source of the noise. Do not be alarmed, no one has been hurt and the train ride is continuing smoothly," Just as he was turning around, he noticed Dragonshy and said, "Oh my apologies to you, sir, I hadn't seen you there."

Dragonshy just nodded to him and the conductor took his leave. Now that all of them were awake, they began talking about their plans for when they got home.

Fluttershy asked, "What time will it be?"

Twilight answered quickly, "About mid-day tomorrow."

They all pondered the circumstances as they decided what to do when they got home.

Pinkiepie said, "Well I'm going to the cakes and helping them make… cakes!"

Fluttershy meekly said, "Well the animals are probably worried about me. I'll have to get back to them as soon as I can."

Rainbowdash shrugged and said, "I had the last week off so I'm good. I have to start back up again tomorrow though."

Viñyl said, "I won't be busy or nuthin'. I'll just be in my house playin' some beats and relaxing. You guys can visit any time."

Applejack said, "It'll just be back to bucking for me."

A thought struck Twilight and she stated it, "Well somepony will have to take Dragonshy tomorrow if he is going to be able to spend some time with all of us before the Gala."

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy immediately volunteered but Twilight shook her head and said, "Sorry girls, but you two already have a good relationship with him. It would be better if we got our visits out of the way first before we let him spend his day with you guys."

They both regretfully agreed.

Twilight turned to Applejack and asked, "Could you take him?"

Applejack froze and said, "Well… I… uh… I mean… well you see… Why can't you take him first?"

Twilight pointed a hoof at the pile of origami in the corner of the car and said, "I have to unfold all of those and condense the report into a page."

Applejack tried again, "What about rarity?"

Twilight shook her head again and answered, "Rarity has promised to make us all dresses for the Gala. It would be best if we waited until she is finished to leave Dragonshy with her."

Applejack sighed, looked at Dragonshy and said, "Well be at the barn tomorrow bright and early, ok?"

As she said this, the train came to a stop at the train station in Ponyville. They all left to go to their houses.

Rainbowdash was walking with Dragonshy and said, "So it sounds like you had a pretty eventful couple of days."

Dragonshy sighed and responded, "That's an understatement. Plus, I don't really see them getting less eventful as I move on."

Rainbowdash nudged him and made a suggestion, "Let's go somewhere nice and relax."

Dragonshy raised an eyebrow and asked, "No valley this time?"

Rainbowdash laughed and began to fly away saying, "Come and find out!"

Dragonshy took off after her. He soon found himself at a lake not far from Rainbowdash's house. There was a lawn chair set up there already under an umbrella. Rainbowdash walked up to it and laid on it. Dragonshy liked this little clearing. It was serene and peaceful. Dragonshy had found a small raft and laid on it after pushing it into the middle of the lake. Soon, his tranquility was interrupted by the raft rocking very quickly. There was splashing and movement underneath him. He glanced over at where Rainbowdash had been and she was gone. Before he could even think about what might have happened to her, her head popped up and she was laughing her head off. Dragonshy laughed too at the thought of him falling for such a simple joke. He lay back down and Rainbowdash pulled herself onto the raft. The laid there for a very long time and watched the clouds go by. They were there for a very long time without realizing it. It had gotten dark and they found themselves watching the sunset.

After that had gotten boring, Rainbowdash got up, stretched, and said, "Let's head back to my place. I'll make some dinner."

As they were flying to her house, Rainbowdash was silently panicking. She was wondering why she had offered to make dinner. She had no idea how to cook. She normally found some plant to snack on during the day and wasn't hungry for dinner or she would just go out and buy something. She was worried that if he found put that she was a bad cook, he might not want to eat with her again. She shook these thoughts away. She decided that she would have to try.

…

Dragonshy waited patiently in the living room as Rainbowdash tried to cook. When he was finally allowed to come in and sit down, he was presented with a failed attempt of a stuffed eggplant. It was just random berries shoved into an eggplant. Dragonshy waited for Rainbowdash to sit down and took a bit.

His face lit up and he said, "This is great, Rainbowdash. I didn't take you for a cook."

Rainbowdash was very surprised by this comment and by the follow-up action of him quickly taking another bite. She took a bite and swallowed it reluctantly. It tasted awful. She began to wonder if he really liked it or if he was just trying to be nice. On one hoof, he looked genuinely excited to take each bite. On the other, he had to be acting since there was no pony alive who would actually enjoy this.

After dinner, they both went to their rooms and went to sleep. Rainbowdash found that she was unable to fall asleep. She thought back and realized that they last several times that she had gone to sleep, she was with somepony. She came to the conclusion that she had gotten used to having a sleeping partner. She left her bedroom and flew down the hallway. She went to into Dragonshy's room. He was already asleep. She crawled onto the bed and delicately rested her head on his arm. She quickly fell asleep like this.

…

When Dragonshy woke up the following morning, he was very surprised to find himself hugging Rainbowdash. He, very gently, put her down and began to walk away. He remembered that Applejack had told him to be at the farm early. He flew to Ponyville and then followed the signs to 'Sweet Apple Acres'. He flew down the path and found the barn quite easily. Applejack and a small yellow philly with a red mane were standing there. Applejack had a big wagon strapped to her and the philly had a bucket on her head.

Applejack noticed him coming and glanced the other way.

The philly yelled to him, "Hey there sleepy-head! We've been waiting for you."

Dragonshy made it to them and said, "I am sorry, I didn't know what you had meant by bright and early."

The philly said, "No worries, mister. I'm Applebloom, Applejack's little sister."

Dragonshy nodded and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Applebloom. So what is there for me to do?"

Applebloom quickly answered, "You can go grab a trailer from in the barn and come with us to pick up apples."

Dragonshy nodded and went to retrieve the item in question. He strapped it on and followed them down the road. Dragonshy noticed that Applejack kept at a relatively far distance behind them, but was able to keep their pace quite well. He also noticed that Applejack had not talked to him since he had gotten there. He knew that there was something wrong, but he couldn't think of what it was. He decided that he would find out what it was before the day was out."


	19. Chapter Nineteen-Truth Love

**Hey guys! I just wanted to ask a favor of my readers before today's chapter. I know there are a lot of great artists in the world, but I am definitely not one of them. It is for that reason that I ask this favor of all of you who are reading and enjoying my story. I would very much like to have a cover for my story, but lack the actual skill to make one myself. So if any of you would be willing to make a cover and also be willing to give me the rights to it, I would greatly appreciate it. I have been planning on revising the summary of this story for a while and I have decided that I will recognize whoever makes the cover in the summary. Now, please keep in mind that if I get multiple submissions, I will pick whichever one I think looks the best based solely on how it looks. It will not be anything personal if I do not choose the one that you sent me or change the cover to another one. I appreciate all the support that I have gotten and I look forward to maybe getting some submissions. If you do wish to submit one to me, then send it to my e-mail: tammo2014 . Thank you for your patience and enjoy chapter nineteen.**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Nineteen-Truth Love**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

It did not take long for the three of them to get to the orchard. There was a large, red stallion with a dirty-blond mane waiting for them under a tree as he chewed on some hay. When he noticed the trio approaching, he stood up and Dragonshy noticed that he had a yoke over his shoulders. Applejack rushed pass Applebloom and Dragonshy to get to the stallion before they were within earshot. Dragonshy could see her whispering to the stallion and pointing at him. When they got closer, Applejack quickly stood next to the stallion with a fake smile on her face.

Applebloom, with excitement in her eyes, bounded in front of Dragonshy to stand in between them and asked, "Big Mac, you're going to help us buck apples today?"

Big Mac kept his eye on Dragonshy as he answered, "Eeyup."

Applebloom turned to Dragonshy and said, "This here is my big brother Big Mac. You're lucky to be here on a day that he's helpin' us out. He's normally all busy tillin' the fields and tendin' the animals. Big Mac, this here is Dragonshy."

Dragonshy felt weird, being stared at by both Big Mac and Applejack, so he cleared his throat, stuck out his hoof, and said, "Pleasure to meet you Big Mac."

Big Mac made no attempt to shake hooves, just continued staring, and said, "Eeyup."

Dragonshy put his hoof back down and silence soon enveloped them. Applebloom looked back and forth between her siblings and Dragonshy, trying to understand the situation.

Applejack, in an attempt to get things moving, said, "Now Applebloom, I asked Big Mac to come help us today since Dragonshy was with us," at this, Dragonshy began to piece together what was going on as Applejack continued, "He um… is going to show Dragonshy how to um… buck apples. While me and you go buck 'em somewhere else."

Applebloom was confused, "Why can't you just show 'im?"

Big Mac walked pass Dragonshy and gestured for him to follow. Dragonshy did so and looked back to see Applejack and Applebloom going the other way. Dragonshy was greatly troubled by these actions. He was supposed to be spending the day with Applejack by order of Princess Celestia. He decided that he would try and find out what was going on from Big Mac and then try to meet up with her during lunch or some other break.

…

They had been walking for a while before they finally came to a stop in a clearing. Dragonshy made the assumption that they were on the completely opposite side of the orchard as Applejack was.

Dragonshy asked, "Alright, so what do I have to do?"

Big Mac took a bucket from Dragonshy's trailer, tossed it under a tree, bucked the trunk of the tree, and waited for a bunch of apples to fall into the bucket. Dragonshy unhooked the trailer and repeated what Big Mac had done. Once the bucket was filled, Dragonshy looked back at Big Mac to see the large stallion nod his approval. Big Mac then walked over to a tree and laid down against it, still watching Dragonshy intently. Dragonshy decided that he should just fill all these buckets as fast as he could. He reasoned that if he could fill the buckets, then it he would be finished and could go and help Applejack fill her buckets. So Dragonshy began to buck every tree in the area and fill all of the buckets.

After a while, Dragonshy decided he should get some information out of Big Mac, "So is there a reason why Applejack did not want me around her and Applebloom?"

Big Mac answered, "Eeyup."

Dragonshy continued to buck trees as he was asking questions, "Does Applejack not trust me to be around them, so she got you to keep an eye on me as far away from her as possible?"

Big Mac answered, "Eeyup."

Dragonshy thought about this for a long time before pressing further, "Is she willing to spend a little time with me to at least let me prove myself to her?"

Big Mac answered, "Nope."

…

There was silence between them until Dragonshy finally finished filling all of the buckets with apples.

Dragonshy loaded all of the buckets into the trailer and strapped himself in before he asked, "So where am I supposed to take all of these?"

Big Mac walked over, unstrapped Dragonshy, strapped himself in, and began to walk away.

Dragonshy yelled to him, "What am I supposed to do while you go get new buckets? Wait here?"

Big Mac yelled behind him as he walked away, "Eeyup."

…

It was a long time after Big Mac had left and Dragonshy was becoming impatient. He felt as if he was doing the Princess a dis-service. He figured that Applejack's plan was to have Big Mac report to her so that she could then report to Twilight. This, however, was not what the Princess had asked for. Dragonshy decided that he needed to get to Applejack and prove to her that he wasn't a bad pony. Dragonshy went airborne and took off in the direction that he and Big Mac had come from. After several minutes of flying, Dragonshy found where they were and he was greatly angered by what he saw them doing. They were on the top of a hill, having a picnic with Big Mac. He dove into the trees and crawled within hearing distance while remaining hidden.

Applejack spoke threw a mouthful of food, "Boy, that pony really hustled huh?"

Big Mac answered, "Eeyup."

Applebloom chimed in, "I wish he'd work with us so I could see him. For somepony to go through all those buckets so fast is incredible."

Applejack gently said, "I think that it's best for him to stay with Big Mac so he doesn't hurt nopony. Speakin' of which, you'd better get goin'. Bring 'im a sandwich too."

Big Mac got up to leave. Dragonshy waited until he was gone before he made his decision. He was going to confront Applejack and then head back to working with Big Mac, since he could fly to their spot faster than Big Mac could walk there. He was about to walk out and talk to them when something happened.

There was a long howl and two timber wolves jumped out from the trees. They began to circle the two ponies in front of them as they snarled, menacingly. Applejack got really close to Applebloom to make sure that they would have to go through her before they could get to her little sister. One of the wolves pounced and Applejack braced herself for the attack.

Dragonshy reacted quickly, silently thanking his apparent training in fighting. He flew from the bush he was in and slammed into the side of the timber wolf as it was in mid-air. Dragonshy switched to attack the other wolf that had now pounced. Dragonshy collided head-on with it. When they were on the ground after the tackle, he grabbed one of its legs and went into the air. He spun around once and let go, throwing it into its friend. The two timber wolves fell into a jumbled pile as Dragonshy landed in between the mares and the wolves. The wolves eventually got up and looked at him. Dragonshy got down into a battle stance and glared at them, daring them to come at him again. The wolves took off running and Dragonshy allowed himself a satisfied smile as he watched them disappear back into the forest. His joy was short lived. He heard a terrible cracking sound and turned to see the tree that the timber wolves jumped off of to get there falling over. The timber wolves had sprung themselves off the tree to surprise the two ponies that were eating lunch. The force of their combined kicks had left a large dent in the side of the tree. The dent was so large that the tree had been falling over from it. Dragonshy had been fighting so none of them noticed it until just now. Applejack heard the sound too but turned around too late to do anything. Dragonshy jumped to action. He sped to them, knocked them out of the way, and allowed the tree to fall on him.

Applejack stared at the tree that was about to fall on her and her sister. She covered Applebloom with her body, hoping that she would be able to protect her from harm. Seconds before the tree fell on them. She felt two hooves on her back. She was sent flying into the air and had been holding onto Applebloom so firmly that she carried her with her. They both landed a short distance away and got down as they heard a loud crash from the tree hitting the ground. She looked up but couldn't see anything from the dust that covered the area from being kicked up by the tree falling. Applebloom jumped from her sister's grasp and ran for the fallen tree as Applejack quickly took off after her. The dust cleared by the time she got to Applebloom's side. She looked, in horror, at a limp form of Dragonshy under the weight of the tree.

Applebloom began to walk closer to him when Applejack said, "Applebloom, be careful now. I told you that he's dangerous."

Applebloom turned to her and she was surprised to see Applebloom's eyes filled with tears as she said, "He done saved our lives, Applejack. You've been scared of 'im all day and wouldn't even let 'im buck apples with us, even though that's what he was here to do."

Applejack was taken aback by this outburst from Applebloom.

Applebloom went closer, nudged Dragonshy's head, and said softly, "You ok, Mister?"

Dragonshy's eyes opened slowly. His entire body hurt him. He could not move at all under the immense weight of the tree. Not only could he not move, but he tasted blood in his mouth and felt several bones broken. When he opened his mouth to answer the filly, he couldn't manage to say anything. There was a gurgling sound and blood poured from his mouth.

Applebloom began to cry and Applejack ran to comfort her.

Applejack looked at Dragonshy, cringed at the thought of the pain he must be in, and said, "Dragonshy, this is all my fault. If I had just trusted you from the start, then you might've not had to defend us. To tell you the truth, I've been scared of you since I first found out about what you are. I just could not bring myself to believe that you were truly a good pony at heart. In all honesty, though it doesn't matter much now, I see that you are a great pony and a I am truly sorry for not seeing that sooner."

Dragonshy smiled. He had been beginning to feel cold, but was now enveloped in this warmth that he could not explain. He felt good. He then began to notice that his bones no longer hurting him and he could feel the wounds on his body close. He felt himself grow. He became bigger to the point that the tree was weight-less on top of him. He positioned himself to allow the tree to slide off of him. He then felt himself shrinking back down to be level with the two awe-stricken mares.

Applejack watched, in wonder, as he Dragonshy began to turn into a dragon right before her eyes. He got so big that he was able to lift the tree off of the ground without noticing. Once he had gotten the tree off of him, he began to shrink back down and returned to his usual form.

Applebloom said excitedly as she hugged his leg, "That was awesome! I'm so glad you're alright! How'd you do that?"

Dragonshy looked himself over to make sure that he looked normal and said, "I honestly have no idea. I shouldn't be able to change form like that unless I have an excess of energy."

Applejack said to him, "It's because I finally told the truth," when she got a questioning look from Dragonshy, she explained, "I think that the best way to show somepony that you care for them is to be totally honest with them. I had been hiding my true feeling of you all day and only felt comfortable with telling you how I felt just now. Since that shows that I trust you, it also shows that there is some love too."

Dragonshy nodded, that explanation made sense to him. The three of them, now comfortable with being around each other, worked to clean up all of the mess that had been left there.


	20. Chapter Twenty-Too Relaxing

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty-Too Relaxing**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy and Applejack were in Twilight's house. They were sitting at a table, talking, while being served tea by Spike. Dragonshy could not get over the fact that there was a dragon, wearing an apron, serving him tea. He was distracted by this the entire time Twilight and Applejack were talking. Eventually, Twilight rested her quill and her paper on the table and took a long sip of her tea. Applejack sighed after talking for so long, gulped down her entire tea, and proceeded to munch on a small sandwich that Spike had brought for them. Dragonshy noticed that they had finished talking and pretended like he had been listening the entire time.

Twilight turned to him and said, "Well that was very impressive, Dragon. To take on two timber wolves by yourself is no laughing matter. I'm sure the Princess will be very glad with both Applejack's and Pinkiepie's accounts."

Dragonshy responded, "I will take this opportunity to thank you, and you as well Applejack, for your co-operation. It really is very helpful, for me, that you are doing this."

Applejack said, "Well shoot. We're just makin' sure that our new friend stays outa prison."

Twilight nodded and said, "Well you'd better get back home before it gets dark. I think that tomorrow it would be best for you to spend the day with Fluttershy."

Dragonshy was slightly surprised at this and said, "Really? I thought you wanted Fluttershy and Rainbowdash to go last."

Twilight said, "Trust me, I have put a lot of thought into the order of this. I should actually be the one to go last since I have to properly record all of the accounts and rephrase them to put you in the best light while keeping true to what happened, Rarity has been having some trouble with our dresses and needs to focus on that, Rainbowdash could really use your help in a couple of days for the winter wrap up anyways, and so Fluttershy is the only one that doesn't have anything going or planned."

Dragonshy considered everything and said, "Well it does certainly sound like you've thought this through. I trust your judgment, Twilight, and bid you both a good night."

With that, Dragonshy left the two mares and began to head to Rainbowdash's house.

Just as he was walking outside he stopped as he heard somepony say, "Psst, Dragon. Over here."

Dragonshy turned to see Rainbowdash's head peeking over a bush that was on the side of the library.

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "Rainbowdash, were you eavesdropping on our conversation."

Rainbowdash glided over saying, "No, of course not. I just happened to fall asleep in that bush over there and I just happened to wake up when I heard ponies talking, but it wasn't just me."

As she finished her sentence, Dragonshy saw Fluttershy walk out from behind the bush that Rainbowdash had been in.

Dragonshy said in shock, "Fluttershy? You were eavesdropping too?"

Fluttershy blushed, looked at the floor, and answered, "Um… no… I mean, yes… I mean… I was… um… napping?"

Dragonshy smiled as he shook his head and said, "Well then you two heard that it all went well with Applejack and that I will be spending the day with you tomorrow, Fluttershy."

Fluttershy nodded and Rainbowdash said excitedly, "Yeah, and you'll be helping me during the winter wrap up! I can't wait to finally have a pony that can match my skill up there. Maybe this year, we can finish on time for a change."

Dragonshy and Rainbowdash said there goodbyes to Fluttershy after walking her to the road that led to her hut. Dragonshy and Rainbowdash walked down the road out of town, side-by-side. Rainbowdash had been trying to gradually walk closer to Dragonshy without him noticing. When he finally did notice, he put his wing over her back and pulled her in. She blushed at this, but quickly got over it and snuggled under his wing as they continued onward.

The sun had finished setting when they got to her house. They walked in and Rainbowdash went to go get dinner from the kitchen. She had bought a pre-made meal from Sugarcube Corner earlier that day and was going to give it to Dragonshy, telling him that she made it. It was a vegetarian pizza with bread sticks on the side.

When she brought it out and put it on the table, Dragonshy looked at it, smiled, and said, "You know, this looks a lot like the pizza that was in the window at Sugarcube Corner…"

Rainbowdash slammed her head onto the table in embarrassment as Dragonshy chuckled to himself.

Dragonshy cleared his throat to calm down and said, "If you don't want to cook, you don't have to, Rainbowdash. Remember, I don't need to eat anything."

Rainbowdash answered, "I know that. It's just kind of weird to sit here eating while you are in the other room without dinner."

Dragonshy said as he bent down to take a bite of his pizza, "Well I appreciate it, but you don't have to try too hard. I think anything tastes good."

Rainbowdash stifled s laugh as she watched Dragonshy eat entire pieces of the pizza in one bite. After they had finished eating, Dragonshy washed the dishes and they went to bed. Rainbowdash convinced him to sleep with her in her room, since she wasn't able to sleep the night before without him. He didn't complain since he quite liked to be with Rainbowdash and her bed was a lot nicer than the one in the guest room. However, it took him a very long time to ignore the hundreds of Wonderbolts posters on the walls.

…

They woke up the next morning to the sound of the rainbow-waterfall starting up outside. Dragonshy was the first to force himself out of bed. He jumped out, cracked his back, cracked his neck, and turned to see Rainbowdash looking at him.

She said to him, "Heh, amateur."

She jumped out of bed, cracked her back, her neck, her wings, and her legs until she was satisfied with how each of them felt. She looked at him, victorious, and they both laughed. There was a knock at the door and they both went down the stairs.

Rainbowdash opened the door to find a bashful Fluttershy holding a basket saying, "Um… good morning, Rainbowdash. Did you sleep well?"

Rainbowdash, totally psyched that Fluttershy was at her door so early in the morning, tried to keep her cool as she said, "Hm? Oh yeah, sleep. Yeah, we… I mean, I had a great sleep. I have no idea how he slept since we didn't sleep together or anything…" Fluttershy stared at Rainbowdash for a second and, before she could pose a question, Rainbowdash tried to move the conversation along, "What's in the basket?"

Fluttershy decided to forget it and answered her, "Oh, I brought some muffins so that all of us could have breakfast. I mean, if that's ok."

Rainbowdash opened the door wider and said, "Of course it's ok! Let's dig in."

Dragonshy had been waiting behind Rainbowdash and greeted Fluttershy as she walked in, "Good morning, Fluttershy. How are you today?"

Fluttershy answered him as the three of them took their seats at the table and Fluttershy placed her basket in between them, "Oh I'm just fine, thank you."

The three of them ate the muffins and both Dragonshy and Rainbowdash complemented Fluttershy as they enjoyed them.

…

Eventually, they all finished eating and left the house. Dragonshy and Fluttershy began to head for her hut while Rainbowdash went off to patrol the skies. Dragonshy was happy that he would finally get a break from all the exciting adventures that have been happening as a result of spending the day with all these ponies.

When they got to her hut, Dragonshy began to realize that he was going to have a very relaxing day. They fed the animals that were not in hibernation, treated the sick ones, helped the injured ones, taught the young ones, and cleaned the area around her hut. As they were working, Dragonshy noticed that Fluttershy was able to speak with all of the animals. They all gathered around her and followed her wherever she went, helping her whenever they were able to. He began to wonder just how she was able to do this with every animal that she met, even if it had been wild just a few minutes before hand. He also noticed that he was not feeling any hunger whatsoever. Normally, he would begin to feel the pains of hunger half way through the day. He was not feeling them at all though.

He brought the subject up to Fluttershy and she said, "Well it's good that you are not getting hungry, but it would probably be best to talk to Twilight about why not. I think it would be just wonderful to be able to keep you from getting hungry all day.

The two of them went to the library to talk with Twilight. Twilight was at her desk, writing very quickly on a piece of paper.

Twilight heard the door open, turned to see them and said, "What are you two doing here? You're supposed be spending the day together doing all of Fluttershy's usual work."

Dragonshy responded, "We've finished already."

Twilight was surprised to hear this and asked, "Really?"

Fluttershy nodded and said, "Oh yes, he was such a great help that we finished all my chores much sooner than I would have by myself."

Twilight sighed. She knew that it was going to be incredibly easy for Fluttershy to accept Dragonshy.

She smiled and said, "Alright well then you two go have fun. I will record your approval of Dragonshy to give to the Princess."

Dragonshy cleared his throat to regain her attention and said, "That is not all that we wanted to talk to you about, Twilight."

Twilight just asked, "Oh, well then what is it?"

Dragonshy explained that they were curious as to why he was not feeling the fatigue that he would normally be feeling during the day. Twilight thought about it for a while before inviting them to follow her into her basement. Once down there, they were confronted by a huge machine.

Fluttershy cowered behind Dragonshy and asked, "Twilight, what is that?"

Twilight shook her head and answered, "The other day, I found out about Pinkie's 'Pinkie Sense'. I didn't believe her at first that it actually existed, so I made this machine to read the brainwaves and physical traits of a pony that is hooked up to it in order to find out exactly what was going on with her. Of course, I found no evidence of her abilities except for the fact that they were always right," after a short pause, she continued, "I can hook Dragonshy up to it and read his traits to see if they are any different from the average pony's."

Dragonshy decided that it was a good idea as any. He stepped where it was indicated and did what Twilight old him to do in order for him to be strapped in properly. Twilight went back and forth, attempting to get a reading on everything that was going on with Dragonshy.

Twilight looked at the paper that she had been taking notes on and said, "Well these are definitely different from a normal pony's stats, but that is probably because you are not a normal pony. Fluttershy, could you go upstairs and ask spike to fetch you my recordings of Pinkiepie, so that I can compare the two?"

Fluttershy nodded and walked up the stairs. As soon as the door closed behind her, there was a sound from the machines that were hooked up to Dragonshy. Twilight again went back and forth, to collect all the data from each machine that was making noise. As she was looking at the data, Fluttershy walked back in. As soon as Fluttershy was back in the room, the sounds stopped and all of the readings on Dragonshy were back to normal.

Twilight yelled to Fluttershy before she could start to come down the stairs, "Fluttershy just put those down there. Walk out of the room for me please."

Fluttershy slowly did as she was asked. Once she was outside, the stats on Dragonshy dropped again. Twilight yelled, "Ok! You can come back in!"

Fluttershy came back in and Twilight waited until she was down the stairs to relay her findings, "It's love…"


	21. Chapter Twenty One-Love Triangle

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty One-Love Triangle**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Both Fluttershy and Dragonshy just stared at Twilight before Dragonshy asked, "What?"

Twilight sighed and explained, "It's the only way that I can explain it. There is some sort of powerful emotional connection between you two that allows you to relay energy to him. The only energy recorded that is capable of such a thing is love. Normally love is only used in romance novels to create some type of suspense in the story, but all of the books on the magic of friendship always end on the possibility of forming a bond that is stronger than anything that can be formed with magic. "

Dragonshy and Fluttershy looked at each other. Fluttershy blushed and frantically looked away. Dragonshy looked away as well, unable to face her under such an atmosphere.

Dragonshy turned to Twilight and asked, "So what does this mean?"

Twilight shook her head and said, "I don't know. All I know is that there is a mutual love between you two and that it is allowing her to send you energy without actually coming into contact with you. If you ask me, it is a great opportunity to change how you receive energy so that you don't have to do embarrassing things in public in order to survive. I bet that if I researched it a little more, I would be able to find a way of strengthening the bond to the point of creating a constant supply of energy even over long distances. If that could be achieved then you wouldn't need to come into any more close calls."

Dragonshy nodded. She was definitely right about that.

Dragonshy turned to Fluttershy, lifter her head to be eye-to-eye with him and said, "Well, Fluttershy, I can't deny that I have feelings for you. However…"

The door to the stairwell flew off of its hinges and a yell was heard, "Wait!"

All that could be seen was a cyan blur rush down the stairs with a rainbow trailing after it. In a moment, Rainbowdash was in between Fluttershy and Dragonshy, facing Dragonshy.

She got down and said, "Fluttershy is mine!"

After saying this, she looked confused for a moment. Fluttershy and Dragonshy just stared at her while Twilight was interested in something about the machines that were still hooked up to Dragonshy.

Rainbowdash looked as if she was trying to make a decision as she muttered to herself, "I want Fluttershy… no, Dragonshy, he's actually a stallion… no, Fluttershy, your best gal-pal… no, Dragonshy, an awesome flying partner… no, Fluttershy, she's so great… Dragonshy….Fluttershy… Drag…"

She was cut off by a hoof on her shoulder. She looked to her side to see Fluttershy smiling to her very warmly. She looked up to see Dragonshy was the one with his hoof on her shoulder.

He smiled as well and said, "Relax Rainbowdash. I was just about to say that I have feelings for Fluttershy but I have feelings for you as well and…"

He was interrupted by Twilight saying, "I should say so. Since Rainbowdash walked in the room, your muscle tension, adrenaline flow, respiration efficiency, and circulatory availability have all shot up to be off the charts."

Dragonshy thought for a moment. He believed that he figured something out. Whenever he was with Rainbowdash, he always felt as if he could do anything he wanted. He felt like he could take on any challenge and come out of it ready for more. He began to think about how he felt when he was with Fluttershy. He always felt at peace and he could think perfectly straight to come up with solutions ot problems or even sometimes clear the storm that was his memory.

He asked Twilight, "What went up with Fluttershy?"

Twilight looked at his stats and answered, "Your brain activity, heart rate, blood pressure, and overall capability all became perfect to the point of becoming utterly tranquil."

She looked at the stats and continued, "Both areas are still up even now. How do you feel?"

Dragonshy looked as his hoof as he answered, "I feel incredible. I feel calm and collected as well as willing and able."

Twilight thought for a moment and said, "You three wait right there."

She teleported away right after making her command. She did not keep them waiting for long. Within seconds she appeared back in front of them with a book being held by her magic. She placed the book on the ground and began to flip through the pages.

She stopped at one and said as her horn started to glow brighter, "Hold still."

After a few seconds of preparation, she sent out a ray of magic at the three of them. They were all blown back against the walls. Each one had hit a different wall and all on different sides of the room. After a moment, they began to glow. Twilight watched as they each began to emit their own personal aura. Rainbowdash glowed blue and Fluttershy glowed pink. They were both engulfed in their aura. Twilight saw that their auras began to branch off of the main body. The two auras had sent out an arm of sorts and were steadily reaching toward each other. They connected at Dragonshy. Once the auras touched Dragonshy, he began to glow with a brilliant mixture of pink and light-blue.

Twilight was about to end the spell when something else began to happen. The brilliant light that enveloped Dragonshy became the purist of whites. This white spread across the strands that connected their auras to his. This didn't seem to just change the color, but also strengthen the once curvy strand to become a thick, straight stream of light. This spread all the way across their strands and then changed their auras a white color to match Dragonshy's. Then, as if that was not enough, another strand came from both Fluttershy's and Rainbowdash's auras. That strand connected in between them. There was now a ray of white light connected each one to each other.

Rainbowdash could not keep the fear out of her voice, "What is this? What's going on?"

Twilight shook her head and watched as she responded, "I don't know. I've never read of anything like this."

Dragonshy prodded, "Well what was that spell supposed to do?"

Twilight quickly read the page that the spell had come from and said, "It was supposed to connect the auras of the ponies that are truly in love. I had expected for it to attach you to the two of them, but then this happened. I think that, for lack of a better word, you would call this a 'Love Triangle'."

After a couple more seconds, the light disappeared.

Rainbowdash asked, "What happened?"

Twilight said, "The connections between you three is always there. I had just temporarily made it visible to the naked eye."

…

After the whole scene had ended, Twilight rushed them out the door. She promised that she would research everything that she had been presented with and that she would not rest until she figured out exactly what was going on. They all figured that if anypony would be willing to give up a good night's sleep to do research, it would be Twilight. They stopped at the road that led to Fluttershy's hut and there was a long silence as none of them wanted to part ways.

Eventually, Rainbowdash blurted out, "Fluttershy would you like to come spend the night with me and Dragons?!"

Fluttershy was surprised by this sudden outburst but quickly nodded to show that she accepted the invitation. The three of them walked to Rainbowdash's house. Fluttershy volunteered to make dinner since she wanted to thank Rainbowdash for her hospitality. Rainbowdash readily accepted her offer and waited for her to be in the kitchen before she quickly flew down the stairs to her basement. Dragonshy waited there for her to return. She quickly reappeared with what looked like a basket with three wine glasses and a bottle of something. She held the basket in her mouth as she waited for Fluttershy to finish cooking.

When Fluttershy finally called them into the dining room, Rainbowdash rushed to the table in order to fill each glass and put them into the three spots that were available. Dragonshy took the liberty of looking at what exactly he was about to drink before he sat down. The label read, 'Honey Nectar Ale'. Dragonshy recognized this name as quite a strong drink, plus it was very aged. Dragonshy knew that he would able to stand maybe two glasses of this drink since he was actually an experienced alcoholic, but he was worried about the two mares that he was with. It would only take one glass for ponies their size to be overtaken by such a stiff drink. Dragonshy sat down and glared at Rainbowdash from across the table. Rainbowdash did not see as she was too busy watching Fluttershy sit down and first take notice of the glass in front of her.

Fluttershy sniffed the contents of the glass and asked, "Rainbowdash… is this… um…"

Rainbowdash said very proudly, "It's Honey Nectar Ale. I got some from Cloudsdale after we got back from Las Pegasus. I figured that I should keep your favorite drink in stock just in case you were ever here for dinner."

Fluttershy, not wanting to decline a gift that her friend had gone through so much trouble of getting for her, said, "Oh, well thank you very much Rainbowdash."

Rainbowdash held up her glass and the other two clinked their glasses with hers. That was the last thing that any of them remembered.


	22. Chapter Twenty Two-The Hangover

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty Two-The Hangover**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

The next morning, Dragonshy finally woke up in the middle of the day. His head was killing him. Every heartbeat sent a surge of pain through his body. He looked around as he held his head. He was in Rainbowdash's bedroom. He cringed and turned over to verify his guess. There was Rainbowdash, sleeping, right next to him. She seemed to be in pain, but he figured that it was just her reacting badly to the hangover even in her sleep. Since she was sleeping on his arm, he tried to lift the other arm to hold it against his throbbing head. However, when he tried, it wouldn't budge. He looked over and nearly fainted. There was Fluttershy on the other side of him. She was sleeping surprisingly peacefully, but that didn't excuse the fact that she was sleeping with him. This was the first time they had shared a bed since he had regained his memory and he didn't even remember it. His head began to hurt even more as he thought about it these questionable circumstances. He just laid his head back down to rest for a moment.

When he felt that he was ready, he gently brought his hooves out from under the two mares. He took the blanket off of himself and was about to jump out of the bed when he heard whimpering next to him. He looked and was surprised to see that Rainbowdash was the one that was whimpering. She was still sleeping but she had a very pained expression on her face and she was clutching her stomach. Dragonshy could not help but sympathize. He got close to her, supported her head with one hoof, and stroked her mane with his other hoof. This action seemed to relax her and the pained expression on her face began to disappear.

Rainbowdash opened her eyes to see Dragonshy's face above her. She quickly closed her eyes since the light was coming in through the window and shining in her face. She looked again in time to see Dragonshy position himself in between her and the window. She opened her mouth to say something but was stopped by Dragonshy's hoof on her mouth. He gestured for her to look behind him and when she did, she could not help but pumping her hoof in the air in success at the sight of seeing Fluttershy in her bed. Dragonshy shook his head and helped her out of bed. He tried to walk to the door but quickly found himself stumbling over his own hooves and fell to the floor. Fluttershy attempted to do the same but she found herself stumbling too. They both got up and proceeded to help each other down the stairs.

Once they were both sitting on the table, Rainbowdash said very quietly, "Ugh… I gottago do the… um… I haveta… the… the… Ima just… in the air."

Rainbowdash found that her own voice hurt her ears and she could not think straight. One moment she was commenting on the fact that she still had to go to weather patrol and the next, she was blathering nonsense. After finishing her sentence, she let her head drop, face first, onto the table and just left it there. She found that it would be too much work to lift her head back into her hooves.

Dragonshy laughed inwardly so as not to let her see him laughing. He found it comical that she was like this after sharing one bottle of ale with three other ponies. As he was looking around the room, he spotted something weird on the counter. There were five empty bottles of ale on the counter.

Dragonshy gulped and asked himself, out loud, "Did we drink all of those?"

There was a giggle, a laugh, and a high pitched voice that answered him, "You sure did! I helped of course, but you muscled through most of it."

Rainbowdash could not stand the sound of the voice and quickly put her hooves over her head to flatten her ears against the sides of her head.

Dragonshy looked in the direction that the voice came from and was greatly surprised to see Pinkiepie in the doorway.

He looked at her and asked, "Pinkie? What're you… in the… I… ugh… where did you… with us?"

Pinkiepie seemed to understand perfectly what he said and answered, "Yes it's me, I'm here for the party, and I slept in the living room, not with you."

Dragonshy nodded, she managed to answer all the questions except one, "Ummm… how are you…"

Pinkiepie appeared right in front of him and shoved her hoof in his face to quiet him as she said, "Shhh. Don't ask me that question."

Dragonshy nodded if not for anything else than to get her to take her hoof out of his mouth. He had been about to ask her how she was up in Rainbowdash's house and was wondering why she didn't want him to ask. Then he remembered that the last time he asked that question, she fell through the floor.

Rainbowdash groaned and said, "Couldya pls keep it down, Piknie?"

Pinkiepie saluted and said, "Sure thing Rainbowdash!" she shrunk under the glare that Rainbowdash gave her and repeated in a whisper, "Sure thing Rainbowdash…"

Just as she was whispering, Fluttershy appeared at the doorway. She seemed untroubled, until she saw Rainbowdash in pain.

Fluttershy rushed to her side and said, "Oh my, Rainbowdash. You look awful. I'll be right back."

Dragonshy found Fluttershy's voice to be soothing to his tired ears, and he felt his headache disappear at the sound of it. He could see that Rainbowdash felt the same way, as she had picked her head off of the table and her hooves were no longer covering her ears. Soon, Fluttershy came back with a tray on her head that had two glasses of a clear liquid in it.

She gave one to both Dragonshy and Rainbowdash as she directed them, "Now drink this slowly. I promise that it will make you both feel all better."

They both drank it and instantly felt the effects of the tonic. Dragonshy's headache went away and Rainbowdash could bear to hear small noises. They both thanked Rainbowdash gratefully.

While they were all sitting at the table, Rainbowdash asked, "So how were you completely fine when you walked in here? You hadn't made the medicine yet."

Fluttershy blushed and looked at the table as she answered, "Well you see, I actually carry a small amount of this elixir with me all the time. I felt myself getting a little tipsy last night and I drank it. Then I just continued to have fun with you guys even though I was the only sober one."

Dragonshy asked, "Did you only have enough for you and Pinkie?"

Fluttershy shook her head and said, "Oh no. I only had enough for myself. I don't know how Pinkie is just fine. Last night, she drank two of those ales herself while we each only had one."

Pinkiepie was about to say something when Rainbowdash leaned over the table and asked, "Wait… You remember last night?" Fluttershy nodded and Rainbowdash continued, "Well tell me what happened! How did we party? What did we do…. um… in bed?"

Fluttershy blushed and looked at the table again, but she was smiling very happily as she answered, "Oh you don't remember any of that? Well… we…"

There was a knock at the door. Rainbowdash groaned and went to answer it. She opened the door to see a Gray Pegasus with a blond mane. The Pegasus had a satchel on that was filled with mail and one eye was facing a different direction than the other.

Rainbowdash said, "Oh, Hey Ditzy. What's up?"

Ditzy responded very cheerfully, "I have a message for you and one for Dragonshy!"

Rainbowdash yelled behind her, "Dragonshy! There's a message for you! What's the message for me?"

Ditzy shoved her entire head into the satchel and shuffled through it for a long time. Dragonshy was standing next to Rainbowdash by the time Ditzy's head popped back out. She had a letter in her mouth but a whole bunch of other letters that had been in the satchel were on the ground. Ditzy gave the letter to Rainbowdash as Dragonshy found his on the ground and picked it up.

Ditzy quickly picked up all of the dropped mail and awkwardly saluted as she flew off. She hit one of the pillars as she flew off the porch, but otherwise took off just fine.

Rainbowdash sat down and read her letter aloud, "Rainbowdash, you are the cornerstone of the Weather Patrol. Without you here, everypony has to work another several hours to get the clouds clear. Please take a short break from your nap and come help us. Yours Truly, Cloudchaser."

Rainbowdash sighed and yelled her good bye to everypony in the house. She then took off from the doorway, taking care not to hit the same pillar that Ditzy had hit.

Dragon walked into the room, reading his letter aloud, "Dragonshy, it's Twilight. I have been very busy in my research for you guys all morning. Rarity stopped by here earlier, very worried about something. She said she needed help and I told her that you would be happy to. I apologize for the short notice, but I think that this will be a perfect time for you to spend some time with Rarity. Be sure to leave for her boutique as soon as you can. Sincerely, Twilight Sparkle."

Pinkiepie exclaimed, "That sounds important! You'd better get going, Dragon. Me and Fluttershy will clean up for you two."

Dragonshy looked over at Fluttershy, who nodded, and began to walk out the door as he said his thanks to them. He took off and began on a course to Ponyville. He would be able to find out where the Boutique was. Apparently it was hard to miss. As he was flying, he could not shake the feeling that there was something that he should have done before he left Fluttershy… Something he was forgetting…


	23. Chapter Twenty Three-FFS

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty Three-FFS (For Fluttershy's Sake)**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Fluttershy gave a deep sigh as she watched Dragonshy fly away.

Pinkiepie, who had been trying to get a few more drops out of one of the empty bottles of ale, saw this and asked, "What's up Fluttershy?! Now we get to spend the day together!"

Fluttershy sighed again as she turned around to see Pinkiepie shoving her tongue into the bottle and licking the inside of it clean.

Fluttershy began to pick up the bottles on the counter to rinse them out and said softly, "Oh nothing is wrong Pinkie, I'm glad to be spending some time with you. It's just… I don't know. I couldn't help but feeling alone when he left. I wanted to go with him…"

Pinkiepie said, "Then go with him!" at Fluttershy's look of surprise, Pinkiepie began shoving her towards the front door saying, "Go catch up! He doesn't know where Rarity's boutique is, which means that he'll ask for directions, which means that there might be somepony that would just want to mess with him, and they would tell him it's in Canterlot, then he would ask more ponies for directions and they wouldn't know what he was talking about, so he would get lost and end up living on the streets of Canterlot, until one day we go there and find him in a box, and he is on the verge of death, so we have to throw him a good bye party… from life! We definitely don't want that! So go help him and I will stay here and clean up!"

Fluttershy hadn't gotten a chance to protest at all during the entire speech. Fluttershy was always scared when Pinkiepie talked really fast. She felt that if she were to do anything except listen, then she would be interrupting something important. By the time Pinkiepie had finished her little spiel, they were already at the door and Pinkiepie promptly closed it on her. Fluttershy looked around and bit her hoof in contemplation. She was always worried about everypony and Pinkiepie's story worried her terribly. She decided that it would be best to go and make sure the Dragonshy found the boutique without any problem.

…

Fluttershy quickly found Dragonshy in the streets of Ponyville. She flew within hearing distance just in time to hear him ask a group of colts if they knew where Rarity's boutique was.

She saw the colts laugh amongst each other and one of them answered with a big smile on his face, "Sorry sir, we just thought it was funny that you would be looking for that here in Ponyville," Dragonshy just cocked his head at this statement and the colt quickly continued, "The boutique that you're looking for is in Canterlot."

Dragonshy stood up and said, "Well thank you for your help. I would have been here, needlessly, for hours. Have a nice day."

Fluttershy didn't want to make a scene right there in the street, so she waited until he was on the road to the train station before she caught up with him. He noticed her decent and moved over slightly to make room for her on the road. She landed very softly and stopped him by clearing her throat very quietly.

She rubbed one fore-leg with the other as she said, "Um… I heard the conversation you had earlier and um… those colts were lying to you. The boutique is actually in the center of Ponyville, next to the town hall."

She winced, expecting him to blow up in anger. She felt a gentle hoof on her shoulder and said, "Thank you Fluttershy. I can always depend on you."

This statement made her blush and she said as she looked away, "Would you like me to show you the way?"

Dragonshy smiled and walked next her as he answered, "That sounds lovely."

The two of them walked, peacefully, down the road.

When they got to the boutique, Dragonshy stopped and stared. Its building style was much different than that of the buildings surrounding it. It looked as if it should have been in Canterlot, since it was so regal-looking.

Fluttershy gently knocked on the door and, instantly, Rarity's voice could be heard yelling from inside, "I told you, Ditzy! Leave the mail out there! I am busy!"

Fluttershy softly began, "I'm sorry if this is a bad time, Rarity, but…"

The door opened quickly, revealing Rarity. She looked very tired. Her mane was in disarray, her eyes had bags, her glasses were on crooked, and she didn't stand perfectly straight.

Rarity said apologetically, "Oh, I am ever so sorry, Fluttershy. I hope, for goodness sake, that I did not scare you at all."

Fluttershy just said, "Oh no, Rarity. I understand, you look a little… overworked."

Rarity slumped to the ground and said, "I'm trying my best to get your dresses done the way that you like them, in time for the Gala, but it has taken quite the toll on me. Tell me the truth, dear, is it really that bad?"

Fluttershy smiled warmly and said, "Oh no Rarity, you're as beautiful as ever."

Rarity smiled and began to get up, saying, "Oh thank you Fluttershy, so what can I do for…"

It was then that she finally noticed Dragonshy standing there. She slammed the doors shut and there was quite the ruckus going on inside. Within a few seconds, the doors re-opened. Now standing on the other side of the doorway, was the Rarity that Dragonshy had remembered seeing. Her Mane was delicately brushed, her face was covered in makeup, her glasses were shined, and she stood with a high-class attitude.

She directed her next statement to Fluttershy as if nothing had happened, "My my my, Fluttershy. You didn't tell me that you were bringing such handsome company. You're Dragonshy, right?"

As she said this, she held her hoof out for him. He knew what to do this time.

He took her hoof, kissed it, and answered her, "Yes, and who might I have the pleasure of meeting?"

Rarity, very excited now, giggled and said, "I am none other than Rarity, of course, darling. Now, what can I do for you two?"

Dragonshy stood straight as he responded, "Twilight said that you went to her house earlier, looking for help. She figured that this would be the best time to make a good impression with you, Rarity."

Rarity smiled and said, "It most certainly is, dear. Won't you come inside for me to explain?"

Fluttershy and Dragonshy nodded before following Rarity into her boutique.

Once inside, they were directed to sit down at a table while Rarity began to explain, "Bottom line is that I am all out of fabric to work with. I had ordered more a few days ago and it never arrived. I know the messenger who normally brings it and he is never late. I am rather worried that something might have happened, as well as the fact that I absolutely must have the fabric that he was bringing. I was hoping that you would be able to go out and get the fabric for me… oh, and check to make sure that everypony is ok, of course."

Dragonshy raised an eyebrow and said, "I am supposed to be spending a day with you, Rarity."

She laughed a little and said, "But of course, darling. When you get back, I'd be more than happy to let you help me. But I cannot work on anything until my precious fabric is retrieved."

Dragonshy sighed. He knew that he was not going to get anywhere if he argued. He nodded to a delighted Rarity and turned to Fluttershy.

He said to an anxious Fluttershy, "Well I'll be going then. Earlier I couldn't help but feel that I had forgotten to do something before I left. Now that you're here I see that…" Fluttershy leaned in a little bit more, giving him the perfect angle to kiss her on the cheek as he finished his sentence, "It was nothing. I'll see you later, Fluttershy."

With that, he jumped out of his seat, grabbed the map that Rarity had been holding and flew out the doors. He wanted to get this errand done as soon as he could so that he would be able to spend time with Rarity. He had heard that she was famous for not keeping her word about ponies helping her with her work.

Fluttershy just stared at the floor for a minute. She had realized what he she had wanted him to do when he left the house the first time. She had wanted him to say good bye to her in a way that showed his obvious love for her. She sighed and then remembered where she was. She cringed and slowly picked her head up to see Rarity's face only inches away from her own.

Fluttershy could only manage a weak smile when Rarity said, "Tell… me… everything!"

They were now sitting in Rarity's kitchen. Fluttershy was very embarrassed and tried to dodge every question that Rarity threw at her. But Rarity was very persistent and would keep rephrasing the question until Fluttershy finally gave her an acceptable answer.

Rarity began with, "Do you love him?"

Fluttershy responded very sweetly, "I love everypony…"

Rarity glared at her and said, "You know what I mean, darling."

Fluttershy just smiled and looked around as she said, "Um… I can't say that I do."

Rarity tried again, "Were you sad when he moved out?"

Fluttershy thought for a moment and decided that it would be safe to tell her, "Of course I was sad."

Rarity quickly asked, "Why?"

Fluttershy panicked at the quick succession, "It made me feel nice and warm when he was sleeping close to…"

She stopped mid-sentence when she realized what she had given away. She looked over at Rarity, hoping that she had missed the last part of her sentence. She hadn't Rarity was more interested than ever.

Rarity pressed further, "Oh, so you've gone all the way with him?"

Fluttershy quickly said, "Oh, heavens no…"

Her hesitation betrayed her and Rarity stared at Fluttershy until she finally corrected her statement, "Well… not exactly."

Rarity exclaimed, "What do you mean not exactly? Either you did or you didn't, there's no in between."

Fluttershy stared at the ground, blushing, as she explained, "Well it was last night, and he was really drunk. I mean really, really drunk. He doesn't even remember any of it today. I just don't think it really counts if the two of us weren't in the right mind."

Rarity looked sort of concerned, "Oh you poor thing. Having your first time in a situation like that…"

Fluttershy's face was completely red. She had never been so embarrassed in her life.

This didn't stop Rarity from perusing the topic further, "Were you drunk too?" When Fluttershy shook her head franticly, she asked the follow-up question, "So why didn't you stop him?"

Fluttershy stared at the ground, her face still completely red, as she answered, "Because… because… because… I wanted it. I wanted it and I couldn't bring myself to wait until he was in the right mind. Oh I'm such a terrible pony!"

Fluttershy began to cry and Rarity rushed to her side to put a hoof on her friend's shoulder saying, "No you're not. You are the nicest, sweetest, most polite pony I have ever met. If there is a single moment in your life where you want to be a little selfish, you take it."

Fluttershy was comforted by her friend's words and said, "Thank you Rarity. I guess I should just be glad that I can actually remember my first time with him."

Rarity was confused by this statement and questioned, "Why's that, dear?"

Fluttershy said without thinking, "Well I can only imagine how Rainbowdash would react if she found out about what happened last…"

She stopped as Rarity grabbed her face and farced it into her own. With the two of them being eye-to-eye, Rarity could only exclaim, "What?!"

…

Captain Fear finally had something going for him. They had acquired a new disguise for the Grand Galloping Gala, and it was perfect. They were unable to pass as guards without their proper I.D. Captain Fear had sent in the fake suitcase to the capital for them to make sure that it hadn't been set as a trap for them.

They were now walking across a field in their new disguises. He took on the form of a unicorn who had been delivering some fabrics to a unicorn in Ponyville. After some rather harsh interrogation, Captain Fear had gotten the pony to admit that he had access to the Gala. That was all the information that Captain Fear needed to have him and his two helpers forced into cocoons. Now Captain Fear and his two lackeys were planning on heading straight for Canterlot to pick up some different disguises. He had decided that it would be the best course of action to just leave the ponies on the road to save time. No doubt they were going to be found. But, by that time, he planned on having a new disguise to be there in. The only down side that he could see was that he was no longer able to fly in this form, so they would have to make the several-day walk all the way to Canterlot.


	24. Chapter Twenty Four-Misunderstanding

**Alright guys, there is a huge development here that I know you are not going to like. I am going to go camping again this weekend, so this is the last chapter until Sunday night (or Monday morning, depending on what time zone you're in). Not only that, but I will also be going on a trip from Tuesday to Friday next week. So, other than the one on Monday Night (or Tuesday morning), you will not be getting another chapter at all next week until Friday night (or Saturday morning). I hope that you will all be as understanding and patient as you have been thus far. Also, I will be deciding which image to post as my cover on Friday. I have already received a few submissions, but I will not be deciding until the Friday that I get back. So, on that Friday, there will be a new chapter, a new summary for the story, and a new cover. There's a lot to look forward to and a long time to wait. Thank you for your consideration. Enjoy chapter twenty four!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty Four-Misunderstanding**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Rarity was utterly stunned at the information that Fluttershy had just accidently gave to her.

Rarity tried to keep the worry out of her voice when she asked, "Um… Dearie, you can't possibly be suggesting that Rainbowdash was present during your… big moment, could you?"

Fluttershy looked away and stayed silent for a long time before answering, "Well we um… sort of uh… had our 'big moment' together…"

Fluttershy was startled when she saw Rarity's eyes roll back and she began to stagger. Fluttershy watched as Rarity fainted and fell to the floor. Fluttershy decided it would be best to leave now when she had the chance. She slowly made her way for the door. Just as she was reaching for it, however, Rarity jumped in between her and the door.

Rarity looked rather angry when she said, "Oh no no no, you have a lot of explaining to do, missy."

Fluttershy shrank under Rarity's intense glare and just nodded. Rarity took them back to the table and Fluttershy was forced to explain every detail of her and Rainbowdash's "big moment".

After the explanation, Rarity just sat there with her mouth hanging open. She was unable to properly process the story that had just been relayed to her. What surprised her most was that everything happened while Fluttershy was sober. She could not believe that her docile, innocent, shy friend would willingly do some of the things that she had done. Rarity was completely speechless. She had no idea how to voice her opinion. In fact, she had no idea what her opinion was on this topic. While she did not agree with most of what happened, she wanted so much to support her best friend and give her confidence in what she wanted to do.

Rarity just said, "Well I um… that was… uh…"

Rarity then fainted again. Before Fluttershy could think of a way to escape while Rarity was unconscious, there was a knock on the door. Fluttershy answered it and found Pinkiepie there.

Surprised, Fluttershy asked, "Pinkie? Um… I'm sorry but uh… didn't you say that you were going to clean up Rainbowdash's house?"

Pinkiepie answered, "I did! The house is entirely clean… oh wait… except for one itsy-bitsy, little part of it! That's why I'm here though! I needed to find you and ask you how to clean it right!"

Fluttershy was surprised to hear that Pinkiepie was already done so quickly. However, when Fluttershy looked around Pinkiepie, she saw that it was night time. She hadn't noticed that she had been talking to Rarity all day.

Fluttershy looked at Pinkiepie again and asked, "Oh um… What did you need?"

Pinkiepie asked, "How do you get blood out?"

Fluttershy was stunned at the question and asked, "Why?"

Pinkiepie said, "Well there are a couple spots of blood on Rainbowdash's sheets and I couldn't wash them out! So I thought, 'You know what pony would know how to wash this?' 'Who?' 'Fluttershy!' 'oh, you're right! You're so smart, Pinkie!' 'Not as smart as you are!' 'No you're smarter!' 'No you are!' 'No you!'"

Pinkiepie began to yell at herself. Fluttershy began to try and get her attention, but she was so quiet that Pinkiepie could not hear Fluttershy over her own yelling.

Pinkiepie began to hit herself and roll on the floor yelling, "You're smarter!... No, you're smarter!"

Eventually, Pinkiepie hit a wall, dazing her, and she seemed to forget the whole ordeal, "So do you know how to get the stain out?"

Fluttershy looked back to see that Rarity was still passed out and, not wanting to be confronted by her again, she said, "Yes, yes I can. Let's go right now so I can show you."

…

Dragonshy followed the map that Rarity had given to him. He was flying above a road that led from Ponyville to Manehattan. After a few hours of flying, He finally found an overturned wagon. He figured that this one was the one that he was looking for since there were a bunch of rolls of fabric jutting out the end of it. He quickly soared downward to inspect the reason behind the wagon being flipped over.

When he landed, he saw that there was a green light coming from inside the wagon. Dragonshy was so interested in finding out what the light was, he did not notice the three ponies that were approaching from further down the road. He crouched down and entered the canvas covering. Inside was a large green cocoon, with two smaller ones on either side of it. The two smaller ones were busted and seemed like whatever was in them had escaped at some point. He heard frantic muffling coming from inside the large one. Dragonshy quickly picked up a stick in his mouth and proceeded to hack away at the cocoon. Eventually, a stallion was revealed. He forced his head out of the opening and gasped for deep breaths of air. Then he coughed up blood. The stallion looked at Dragonshy and yelled at the top of his lungs. Dragonshy was taken aback by this and stepped backwards.

Dragonshy yelled for the pony to stop, but it was no use. Dragonshy soon noticed that, while the pony was screaming, he should be running away if he was this scared. Dragonshy looked and saw that the stallion was purposely avoiding touching the sides of the cocoon. On the few times that the stallion did touch the sides, he was burned. Dragonshy took a step toward him, telling him to calm down and that he would help. The stallion lost his footing and fell on top of the cocoon frame, going limp instantly. Dragonshy walked up to him, poked him and almost threw up when he realized that the stallion was dead.

He had no idea what to do, but his thoughts were interrupted by a high-pitched screaming from behind him. He turned to see two stallions on either side of a mare with a camera.

One of them yelled, "That's one of the things that attacked us!"

The other one yelled, "He killed dad!"

The two ponies leapt for Dragonshy at once. Dragonshy rolled to one side, underneath them, and kicked one of them to send him tumbling into the other one. There was a flash from the camera that the mare had. Dragonshy, not knowing what else to do, quickly flew out of the wagon, picked up as much fabric as he could off the floor, and took off for Ponyville.

One of the stallions got up and said, "Did you get a good picture of him?"

The mare nodded and the stallion said, "Good, we need to tell Princess Celestia that there is a murderer among us and he is heading for Ponyville!"

The mare said, "Come on, we need to get to the train station before the last train for Canterlot leaves."

After burying their father, the three of them took off for the Manehattan train station.

…

Dragonshy made it back to Rarity's boutique after another few hours of flying, with his arms full of fabric rolls. He knocked on the door and waited. Rarity soon answered the door.

When she saw Dragonshy, she grabbed all the fabric from him, slammed the door shut and said through the door, "Oh, Dragonshy. I am not feeling very well right now. Maybe we can work together tomorrow."

Dragonshy was left, bewildered at her doorstep. He was still very shaken by what had just happened to him and this instance seemed very weird for a moment. He started to think about why she might have reacted the way that she did. Briefly, he thought that maybe the news of his accusation had already spread and she knew about what happened. He quickly dismissed the thought. There was no way that it would be able to get to Ponyville before he could. He decided that it was just Rarity being Rarity and set off for Rainbowdash's house. He was going to have to talk to Rainbowdash and Fluttershy about what happened to see what he should do to keep from getting in trouble.

…

Rainbowdash was completely exhausted after working all day. She was finally done, with the moon already out, and she was relaxing on a cloud when Cloudchaser came to see her.

Cloudchaser did not beat around the bush, "Rainbowdash, you were not very helpful at all today. You were clumsy, slow, and an all-around bother. We really needed your help to get rid of those storm clouds and you were no help at all. Is there something wrong?"

Rainbowdash sat up and, very apologetically, said, "I'm sorry, Cloud. I don't know what was wrong with me today. I just feel really sore, and out of sorts. I don't know, something just feels different and I can't explain it very well."

Cloudchaser eased up a little, placed a hoof on her shoulder and said, "It's alright Rainbowdash. The important thing is that we were able to keep Ponyville dry today. Those were the last scheduled cloud groupings for the rest of the month. I think that you should stay home for the next couple of days and rest up. We need you at your top physical form for the Winter Wrap Up."

Rainbowdash smiled, flew off a little bit and said, "Thanks a lot, Cloud. I'll take it easy and do my best for the Winter Wrap Up!"

She then set off for her house. She was too tired to fly very fast, so she just glided lazily through the sky until she made it to her house. All day there had been something weird. She didn't feel right. She didn't feel the same as she normally did. There was something different but she could not put her hoof on what it was.

…

Fluttershy had flown up to Rainbowdash's porch and was very surprised to see Pinkiepie already there. What made it so surprising was the fact that Fluttershy had just been standing right next to Pinkiepie a moment ago and Fluttershy had only left her to fly up to the porch. Fluttershy could not help but wonder how exactly Pinkiepie was standing on clouds as an earth pony and how exactly she had gotten up there without flying before her. Fluttershy decided not question it and walked up to the door. She was about to knock on it when she heard screaming from inside. She instantly recognized that it was Rainbowdash's scream. Fluttershy quickly opened the doors and raced up the stairs to where she heard the scream come from. Fluttershy swung open the door to Rainbowdash's room to see Rainbowdash standing there, staring at her bed.

Fluttershy asked very calmly, "Rainbowdash, what's wrong?"

Rainbowdash turned to Fluttershy, pointing at the bed, and demanded, "Fluttershy! Please tell me that isn't what I think it is!"

Fluttershy looked at the bed and winced at the two blood spots on the bed. Fluttershy had been hoping to clean that up before Rainbowdash saw them. She knew that Rainbowdash would be upset to receive this news.

Fluttershy attempted a smile and answered, "That's blood…"

Rainbowdash yelled again, "I know that it's blood, Fluttershy! Where is that blood from?!"

Fluttershy's answer was just her staring at the floor in silence, but that was all the answer that Rainbowdash needed to confirm her fears.

Rainbowdash began to try and find a way out of the situation and asked pleadingly, "Fluttershy, don't take this the wrong way, but please tell me that those are yours…"

Fluttershy managed a weak smile and said, "Well… uh… one of them is mine…"

Rainbowdash couldn't hold it in anymore. She broke out into tears. She dropped to the floor and cried like she had never cried before.

Fluttershy rushed to her side, stroking her mane, calmly saying, "Shhhh, it's ok, Rainbowdash."

Rainbowdash slapped her hoof off of her, jumped away, and yelled back, "It's not ok, Fluttershy! My first time in bed with the Stallion I love and I don't even remember it! You weren't drunk! Why didn't you stop me?!"

Fluttershy was speechless. She had no idea how to answer this question. She was terrified that Rainbowdash was mad at her. Rainbowdash had never been mad at her before.

To make matters worse, it was at that moment that Dragonshy came bursting through the door of the bedroom saying, "What's wrong?! Is everything all right?! I heard…"

He was interrupted by a very powerful blow to the side of his face. He staggered backward and looked back to see Rainbowdash standing in front of him, crying.

She yelled at him, "I know what you did! I can't believe that you would do something like this!"

Dragonshy's thoughts immediately went back to what happened on the road. He had been right earlier. The news had spread faster than he had flown. Now Rainbowdash and Fluttershy think that he murdered a pony.

He tried to remedy the situation, "Please calm down Rainbowdash, I can explain…"

He had to stop talking as he narrowly dodged another blow to the face as Rainbowdash yelled again, "Don't tell me to calm down! I didn't want it to happen like this!"

Dragonshy tried again, "Rainbowdash, if you would just…"

Rainbowdash would not let him finish as she yelled, "Just get out! I never want to see you again!"

Dragonshy knew that there would be nothing he could do at the moment. He decided that his best bet would be to just go straight to the Princess and see if she would be more understanding than Rainbowdash. If he could convince the Princess of his innocence, then Rainbowdash would have to believe him.

He backed out the door saying, "Ok Rainbowdash, I'm leaving. Trust me though. This was not my fault and I am going to prove it!"

Rainbowdash yelled again, "Just go!"

Seeing that there was nothing else to be said, Dragonshy took his leave.

Rainbowdash went and cried into Fluttershy's chest for a long time before looking up at Fluttershy and saying very regrettably, "What have I done?"

Pinkiepie, who had been standing in the corner of the room the entire time, said, "Well duh… You just chased your special somepony out the door for something that you caused by getting everypony drunk."

The two pegasi stared at her and she said, "Ummmm… how am I standing up here?"

She fell through the floor and Rainbowdash continued to cry to Fluttershy at the realization that Pinkiepie was right.


	25. Chapter Twenty Five-Second Offence

**Alright, I know that it's late (or very early) but I will be getting this chapter out to you guys as promised. So I will post this one and another one tomorrow. After that, there will not be another one until Friday night (or Monday morning).**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**Chapter Twenty Five: A Great Change-Second Offence**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy did not waste any time in getting to the train station. He flew straight there and got to the front desk to get his ticket before he realized that he did not have any money. The thought dawned on him that he had been freeloading off Fluttershy and Rainbowdash since he's been in Ponyville. He made a mental note of the fact and told himself that he would find some way of making money to pay them back for their hospitality. However, he had to focus on the situation at hand. He knew that he had to get to the Princess as soon as possible. If the news had already spread to Ponyville so fast, then it would only be a little bit longer before it spread to Canterlot. If the Princess heard that story before she heard his story, then it would be all over. He couldn't fly to Canterlot. It would take way too long. He needed to find some way of making some quick money to get the train ticket. He spent so long trying to figure it out, that he did not notice the blue-maned unicorn standing behind him.

Eventually, Viñyl got sick of waiting and said, " 'Scuse me, ya gunna getchyo self a tickit o' not?"

Dragonshy turned to see who had addressed him and apologized, "I'm sorry, I'll get out of your way, Miss..."

Viñyl changed her mood when she recognized him as the stallion that had punched out the casino manager that had been so annoying, "Scratch, but you can call me Viñyl. You're Twilight's friend, right?"

Dragonshy took a moment to remember who she was and responded, "Oh of course, I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you for a moment there. I'm sorry that I cannot stay and chat, but I have to find a way to pay for a ticket to Canterlot as quick as possible."

Viñyl smiled and said, "I've got an idea that'll getchyou a ticket instantly."

Dragonshy raised an eyebrow and asked, "How?"

Viñyl didn't answer.

Instead, she walked up to the booth for the pony that was selling the tickets and said, "I'll take two tickets on yo next train ta Canterlot."

The pony responded, "That'll be twenty bits each, Miss Scratch."

She tossed the coins to the pony and grabbed the tickets in her mouth. She walked to Dragonshy and gestured for him to take one. After he had, she put the other one into a saddlebag.

Dragonshy, realizing that he hadn't brought a saddlebag, just stuck it under his wing and asked, "Are you sure? Twenty bits is a lot of money."

Viñyl was already heading to the loading platform as she said, "Ya can either sit there in disbelief, or you can come with me ta Canterlot."

Dragonshy smiled and ran to catch up with her just as she was getting onto the train. The Conductor directed them to their car. It wasn't first-class that they had been riding on from Las Pegasus. This was a car filled with bunk beds, for space. Each area had a double bed with a curtain that could be pulled to cover the bed. There were shelves built into the frame of the beds for luggage. The car was completely empty other than them, but the conductor told them that they were to stay in their assigned bunk until the end of the ride. It was something about it being unsafe for them to be walking around in the car with the train moving. They agreed and jumped into the bunk.

Realizing that it was a single bed that they were sharing, Dragonshy asked, "Um… not to sound ungrateful but… could you not have gotten two tickets to separate bunks?"

He had jumped into the bunk on the far side of the bed. Viñyl jumped up to block the exit from the bunk. It was a middle bunk so there was a bed above and below them. Viñyl lay down, rested her head in her fore-legs, and stared dreamily at Dragonshy.

After he had asked his question, she responded, "Ya said thatchya needed ta get ta Canterlot 'n I was already headin there, so I thought I'd let a handsome stallion like you keep me company."

Dragonshy was greatly surprised when she had said this and scooted closer to him. She was being very upfront about her intentions.

Dragonshy was just barely able to squeak out, "I don't think that's such a good idea."

When he said this, Viñyl stopped trying to snuggle him and asked, "Why not? You ain't goin out wit Twilight, are ya?"

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "No, but I do have feelings for somepony else."

Viñyl backed off a little bit and muttered, "Geeze, what a letdown. I thought this was gunna be a fun train ride. Oh well… So whatchya goin ta Canterlot for?"

Dragonshy hesitated before deciding that it's just fair that she knows why he is going there, since she bought the ticket for him. He spent the next couple of hours explaining his predicament. He was very careful to make sure that he was very clear about the fact that he did not do anything wrong. He treated the conversation as a practice run on presenting the situation to Princess Celestia.

At the end of the story, Viñyl just said, "Well it sounds ta me like you're gunna half ta go ta jail…"

Dragonshy just sighed. If she thought that he was going to jail, he could only imagine what Princess Celestia was going to give him as a punishment.

As he was thinking, Viñyl spoke up, "Well I don't have ta get ta work until later t'night. So I'll go 'n help you witchyo plea."

Dragonshy smiled and began, "Well thank you, Viñyl. I really appreciate…"

He stopped when she snuggled up close to him and closed her eyes.

She just smiled and said, "Well we'd better get some sleep…"

With that, she relaxed and quickly fell asleep. Dragonshy shook his head and relaxed to fall asleep. He began to wonder if it was bad that he was beginning to get used to mares falling asleep at his side. He quickly dismissed the thought and let sleep overtake him.

…

Rainbowdash, Fluttershy, and Pinkiepie were searching all over Ponyville to look for Dragonshy. They had also gotten Applejack and Rarity to help them. When they had asked why he had left, the told they that Rainbowdash and he had gotten into an argument and he stormed off. They felt bad that they were making him seem like a grouch, but they did not want to tell them the real reason that he had left. They had all split up to look for him in different areas. Eventually, Rainbowdash and Fluttershy went to the library since they had forgotten to ask Twilight is she had seen him.

Fluttershy knocked very quietly on the door. Rainbowdash waited a few seconds, just to humor Fluttershy. After nopony came by to answer the door, Rainbowdash just barged right through it to see Twilight furiously reading some books.

Rainbowdash just yelled out, "Twilight! Have you Seen Dragon?!"

Twilight turned to her and answered, "No I haven't. Why? Is he missing?"

Rainbowdash nodded and Twilight yelled, "Perfect!"

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy both gasped when she had said this.

At first she was confused and, when she figured it out, she apologized and explained, "Oh no! I mean that this gives us the chance to test out some of my new research. I did a lot of studying on the elements of harmony and found that you two are able to connect with him. In this connection, a lot of things are possible. One of the easiest things for one to do is to sense where the other on is. I am sure that if you two work together, you will be able to tell exactly where he is."

Fluttershy shyly asked, "Could you do that one spell on us that allows us to see this magic. I think that it would be so much easier to pull off if we were able to do that."

Twilight did what was asked of her and watched as a tendril of cyan magic branched off from Rainbowdash and tendril of pink magic branched off of Fluttershy to meet in between them and turn a solid white. After completely becoming white, a third tendril branched off from the middle of the one that connected them and shot straight out in one direction.

Twilight saw this and said, "That's the direction to Dragonshy."

Without thinking, the two mares took off in the direction that it was pointing. It led them to the train station and they saw that it continued pointing down the track that led to Canterlot. So they waited for the other to catch up and they all bought tickets to the train to Canterlot. The train that they got on was only a couple of hours behind that of Dragonshy and Viñyl.

…

After the long ride, Dragonshy woke up as the train stopped to find Viñyl still snuggling up to him. He nudged her awake and they both jumped out from the bunk. They were walking to the door when they felt the entire car shake with a sudden jolt. The car had been unhooked from the rest of the train and was being pulled somewhere separately. There were no windows in the car that they were in, so they were forced to just sit and wait for the car to stop moving.

Once it did finally stop, there was a loud voice speaking through a megaphone, "Listen here! We have the car completely surrounded! There is a stallion pegasus in there with a green mane and a black coat! He is being arrested for suspicion of murder! There is a mare unicorn with a blue mane and a white coat! She is being arrested for harboring and assisting a fugitive! We would like those ponies in question to step out of the car, slowly and peacefully! We are to escort them to the prison blocks for holding until a time can be scheduled for them to be questioned by her majesty! Those ponies have thirty seconds to step out before we come in after them!"

The two ponies just looked at each other, very worried about what was going on and desperately thinking about what to do. They had thought that they would be able to get there before something like this happened. They had no idea what to do.


	26. Chapter Twenty Six-Prison

**Here's today's chapter, everybody. Now, you will not be seeing another one until Friday night (or Saturday morning). Again, I would like to thank you for your patience and understanding. As for the cover, anyone who would like to submit something should do so before Friday night. I will not take any more submissions after that. The criterion for the cover is anything that you feel appropriately represents the story in a cool way. So, when you finish, just send it to my g-mail (tammo2014 ) along with the name that you would like for me to recognize you as if you were to be chosen. I think that I have covered everything. Enjoy chapter twenty six!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty Six-Prison**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy and Viñyl had no idea what to do. They either had to walk out and surrender themselves to the Canterlot Elite Guard or sit there and wait to be taken away by force. Either way, they would be taken to prison.

Viñyl attempted a smile and said, "Well dis is gunna be it fo' me…"

Dragonshy looked questioningly at her and asked, "Why?"

She turned to him completely and said, "Dis is gunna be my fifth time in da holdin block at da prison. Five times means Ima goin' ta jail no matter what."

Dragonshy thought for a moment and said as reassuringly as he could, "Not if I get pardoned."

Viñyl shook her head and said, "Well Ima hopin' that ya do getchyo self pardoned."

With that, the two walked out of the car as slowly as they could. They were instantly seized, cuffed, and knocked unconscious before either one could even take in the situation outside the car.

…

The mares in their car panicked when their car stopped and began to move in the opposite direction that it had been. It did not take long for a conductor to stroll into their car to explain what was going on.

He opened the door and said to the passengers inside, "I am sorry for the inconvenience, Ms. Twilight. There seems to be a situation at the station in Canterlot and the C.E.G. has put it under lock down. You will all be brought back to the station in Ponyville and refunded with tickets for tomorrow's train."

Rainbowdash immediately complained, "But we have to get there now! We can't wait until tomorrow!"

The conductor responded as he took his leave, "I am sorry, Miss, but even if you wanted to fly you would not be allowed to do that either. You have no choice but to wait until tomorrow. I am sure that whatever business that you have there will forgive you under these circumstances."

They were left alone after he had said what he was required to say. They really did not have a choice but to ride the train back to Ponyville. When they got there, they all head their separate ways agreeing to meet at the train station at noon the next day. Rainbowdash went to stay the night with Fluttershy, for neither one of them wanted to sleep by themselves that night.

…

Captain Fear was in the room that he had rented out for the three of them to stay while in Canterlot. He was writing his daily report to the queen when one of his two soldiers barged in.

Captain Fear turned to look at the soldier as he stood to attention and quickly relayed the news that he had, "Sir, there is something I know that you would like to see if you would follow me. Please hurry because it is on the move."

Captain Fear knew that it had to have been something very important for the soldier to think that it was ok to speak without being asked and to barge in without permission. Captain Fear quickly got up and followed the soldier out of the room. It did not take long for him to see what the soldier had been talking about. There were two ponies being carried through town by the C.E.G. and one of them, though his head was covered, had a very familiar cutie mark. Captain Fear rushed back to his quarters to write up a new report. He knew that they C.E.G. had been heading in the direction of the holding block, so he knew that these were just temporary prisoners until the Princess decided what to do with them. He included all of this in his report and sent his soldier off to deliver it. Captain Fear smiled to himself. He knew that this would definitely get him the promotion that he deserved.

…

Dragonshy woke up to the sound of tapping on bars. He looked around to find himself in a cell with Viñyl. He heard the tapping again and turned around to see a guard at the gate to the cell.

When the guard was convinced that he had Dragonshy's attention, he said, "It's time for you to make your appeal to the Princess."

Without another word, he opened the door, let Dragonshy walk out, cuffed Dragonshy, closed the door, and escorted Dragonshy out of the cell block, leaving Viñyl to watch them as they walked away.

Dragonshy saw that she was left behind and asked, "What about her? When is her appeal?"

The guard did not even stop to look when he answered, "This is her fifth time in the holding block. She is going to be getting transferred to the real prison tomorrow. She will stay there for a year before she can make her appeal to the Princess."

Dragonshy could not help but feel guilty. He had told her that she would not have to go through that, but there was nothing that he could do to stop it from happening. He shook his head realizing that there was still one thing that he could do in order to keep both him and Viñyl from being punished. He had to make his appeal and try to convince the Princess that it was not his fault. If he did that and got a pardon, then Viñyl would have to be forgiven as well and she would be kept out of prison. He began to go over, in his head, what he was going to say to the Princess when he got there.

Dragonshy was escorted into the throne room and he was puzzled by what he saw. There were the two Princesses sitting where they had stood before, but there was also another alicorn with them. This one however, looked like a Changeling. She looked like a Changeling in the fact that her wings were bug-like, her eyes were green, and her horn and legs had holes in them as if she were fading away. They all looked at Dragonshy as he entered. The two princesses in their thrones frowned when they saw him and the new alicorn smiled menacingly.

The alicorn backed tot eh side of the room when Princess Celestia began to talk to Dragonshy, "Dragonshy, I must say that I am very disappointed. I gave you a chance to prove that you were a good pony, but you threw that all away and committed the most unspeakable of crimes. Now, whether you did commit these crimes or not, there are laws that even I must follow. It has been brought to my attention that you did not leave your nation legally. Had you done that, I would have no problem in throwing you in our prison. Since you are a fugitive of the Changeling Empire, I am forced to give you up to their queen as part of Civil Agreement that was reached between our two nations. You will now be given to them and they will deal with you as they see fit. Assuming that you neglected to tell Twilight and her friends of your wrong-doings, I will take the liberty of breaking the news to them. Now, I wish for everyone to exit these chambers. I require some time to myself to cool off before making a public appearance."

Dragonshy was about to say something, but two Changelings jumped on him and muzzled him. Then another, slightly larger one, bucked him out the doorway. The four of them exited and then the alicorn that had happily watched the proceedings followed them out the door, closing it behind her. Once through the door, Queen Chrysalis' horn glowed momentarily and they all teleported from that position.

Dragonshy found himself in a new throne room, this one much more sinister than the one that he had just been inside of. Queen Chrysalis walked up the stairs and sat in her throne.

She looked at Dragonshy, laughed, and said, "Dragonshy? That is what you were going under? That is quite humorous indeed. I must say, Commander, you gave us quite the slip. We had honestly believed you to be dead. No matter, you are here now. Because of your treachery you are hereby sentenced to life in prison. You will be placed into a cell be yourself where you will be given just enough energy to barely sustain life. Like all Changelings, you are immortal as long as you receiving love. So you will be doomed to an eternity of living on the brink of death… alone!"

She laughed and teleported him away. Dragonshy got up and noticed that he was no longer cuffed or muzzled. He looked around to see that this was no jail cell. This was just some hole in the ground. It was a very small dome that was just big enough for him to stand inside of. There was absolutely no space for him to move and the only light came from a glowing crystal in the middle of it. He had no idea what to think. He was going to have live in this confined space forever.

…

Rainbowdash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkiepie, and Twilight had all met up at the train station. They had taken the train all the way to Canterlot and had gotten to the castle. They were walking through the hallway of the castle, still following the path that was being shown by Fluttershy's and Rainbowdash's auras. They turned the corner to the throne room just in time to see Queen Chrysalis, three Changelings, and Dragonshy teleport away. Rainbowdash had attempted to fly to them before they had a chance to blink away, but she was not nearly fast enough to get there in time.

Twilight and her friends decided to open the doors to the throne room to ask Princess Celestia what had just happened to their friend.

When she noticed them, Princess Celestia said, "Oh Twilight, what can I do for you?"

Twilight bowed and said, "We came here looking or Dragonshy and…"

Princess Celestia sighed and interrupted, "Well I guess you saved me the trouble of writing a letter. Some information has just been brought to me concerning Dragonshy. As it turns out, he is actually a fugitive of the Changeling Empire. Twilight, I am sure that you are fully aware of our procedure with runaway ponies who cross lands. Not only that but he has also been accused of murder. I am sorry to say that there was nothing else that I could do other than to let Queen Chrysalis take him away."

All the ponies that were present were speechless. They were trying to process all the information that they had just been given. All that they understood was that Dragonshy was a fugitive and murderer, and he has been taken away by the Queen of Changelings never to be seen again.


	27. Chapter Twenty Seven-Progression

**I'm back! I really am sorry that I took such a long break from you guys, especially after leaving the story at the point that I did. Well I am back on my usual schedule, at least for a little while. In other news, the summary of the story has been changed to be a bit more dramatic and enticing. I have also decided on the cover for the story. I feel that it represents the story very well and came the closest to the image I had in mind when I created Draco. So everyone please congratulate Pikachu913 for all the time and effort that must have gone into making this image. Not to be mean or anything but I have gotten a few messages from people who were not able to get the cover in on time. Do not fear, for you can still send them in. If they look really awesome, then I will replace the current cover. You must be informed, I am very lazy, and I will not go through the effort of changing the image unless it is ridiculously good. So you are welcome to send in your submissions, just don't keep your hopes up. Now, without further ado, here is chapter twenty seven.**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty Seven-Progression**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

A week into his sentence and Dragonshy was utterly miserable. He had not moved from his pitiful hole in the ground since he had been out there. There was no light, no wind, no sound, no warmth, and nothing to do. All he could do was lay there and wonder exactly what he did to deserve such a punishment. He figured that it must have been something unspeakable for him to get such a mighty punishment in return. He figured that he probably deserved it. He spent his days pacing in circles around the crystal in the middle of the cavern or laying down and thinking of the happiness that he probably will never be able to return to. He had been feeling a little puckish since the day that he had gotten there, but it wasn't so bad that he could not bear it. That part confused him a little. The queen had said that he would be given just enough energy to keep him just on the brink of death but he had been on the brink of death before and it did not feel like he was dying. He wasn't going to complain, but it did puzzle him into thinking about what exactly was going wrong.

Feeling that he deserved the punishment, he never even thought about escaping. Not that he would be able to escape if he tried. There were no entrances or exits. There were no windows, not even any cracks. The walls, ceiling, and floor were connected to form one huge, curved wall. He hoped that, if he behaved in his time there, he would be allowed another chance because of good behavior. The unknown was killing him though. He no longer knew whether it was night, day, Tuesday, or Friday. It was all just one time slot to him. It was all confinement.

…

From the palace in the Changeling Capital, there were two ponies that were watching and enjoying the misfortune of Dragonshy. Captain Fear and Queen Chrysalis were both observing Dragonshy in wonder.

Eventually, Captain Fear asked, "How come he is not starving yet?"

Queen Chrysalis was obviously very annoyed at the fact an answered not attempting to mask her anger, "Because he is who he is! Draco was one of the best shifters in the history of Changelings. It would not surprise me if he had figured out some way of storing energy and only tapping it when he absolutely needed it. I have completely cut off my supply of energy to him, but he seems to be completely unaffected by it."

Captain Fear cringed. He regretted asking her.

He knew that she was not going to like his next question, but he asked it anyways, "Your Majesty, I would like to point out the fact that I have finally gotten Draco within your grasp after his insult toward you. I was wondering if you maybe put any consideration into my promotion…"

To his surprise Queen Chrysalis smiled a devious smile to him and answered, "As a matter of fact, Captain, I have. Since there can only be one Commander, I have decided that you can only have Draco's position if you kill him with your own hooves," her smile broadened at the sight of Captain Fears reaction and she continued to explain her decision, "Well he has not been affected by the malnourishment he has received, so it would still be a good fight to watch. However, if you feel that you still cannot take him on, I will allow you to wait as long as you see fit to challenge him to a duel. Personally, I think it would most interesting if you challenge him as soon as possible. Just know that I will only one of you walk out of the arena alive. Be gone, I am done with you."

After saying what she had wanted to say, the guards escorted Captain Fear out of her room, quickly. Captain Fear was scared for his life. He rushed to his quarters for he did not want the soldiers to see him in his state of fear. He desperately wanted the promotion, but every Changeling in existence knew that Draco was undefeated in one-on-one fights. In the Changeling society, they fight for their rank in society. SO there were hundreds, maybe even thousands, of ponies who believed that they were strong enough to take Draco on. He left no survivors. Draco was famous for killing each of his challengers before five minutes in the arena had passed. Going into the arena with him would result in death.

Captain Fear went to his desk and pulled out his own peering glass. It was just a piece of glass that was magically linked to the crystal that was in the room with Dragonshy. He studied Dragonshy and came to the conclusion that the fact that Dragonshy looked like a regular pegasus was the effect of a transformation. No matter how special Dragonshy was, his true form was that of a Changeling. Captain Fear decided that he would wait until Dragonshy looked like a Changeling again. That would mean that he no longer had the power to transform. If Captain Fear could fight him when he did not have his most valuable weapon available to him, then he might have a chance of winning. He laid the glass on the desk and went to sleep. The next few days would be spent checking the glass over and over again in order to see if anything was happening or not.

…

Back in Canterlot, Fluttershy, Rainbowdash, Pinkiepie, Twilight, Rarity, and Applejack were just boarding a train to head back to Ponyville. They wanted to stay there longer but they needed to get back in order to help with the Winter Wrap up. They had spent the last few days explaining the situation to Princess Celestia. They had told her everything that pertained to the situation but all they were able to do was get Viñyl out of prison. Princess Celestia had observed the evidence and questioned all who had been involved. She decided that Dragonshy was innocent of murder. She was still unable to get him back though. She explained to them that she was forced to give him back since he was a fugitive of the Changeling Society. In order to get everything worked out, Princess Celestia extended the date of the Grand Galloping Gala to make it a little bit more convenient for the mares that were gathered in her throne room.

They were all a little depressed. They had been told that they would have to forget about Dragonshy. The Princess had told them that it would be very unlikely for him to return. Rarity had the perfect outlet, since she was not done with her dresses yet. The other ones were not so lucky. They all had their jobs, but they were mostly jobs that could be done while thinking about things. All the time was spent thinking about Dragonshy and how he was being treated back in his home town. It was Fluttershy and Rainbowdash who were the most worried. They had no idea what was going on with Dragonshy but they could feel that he had needed their energy a lot more than a couple of days ago. They decided that there was something wrong and that they would continue to focus and send energy to him. The figured that it might just be their energy that was giving him the strength to go on.

They had decided to all go to the Gala together, just as they had planned on it. They thought that it would be a perfect first step to forgetting about the pegasus that had left such a huge impact on all of their lives. This effected Rarity the most. Because all of the mares she was making dresses for were not very happy to begin with, they all made it incredibly hard for her to make the dresses. They were very picky about how they had wanted the dresses to look. Rarity ended up bringing all of them in, one-by-one, to get their ideas down. Most of them were helpful, except for Rainbowdash who just said that it needed to be about twenty percent cooler than it was. She ended up scraping her ideas entirely and making the new ones.

They were all still excited about going to the Gala, but they were all still very sad that they would be going without the new friend that they had made. Twilight had been told to just get rid of everyponies's accounts of their time with Dragonshy, since it didn't matter anymore. They all decided that they would try their hardest to have the best night of their lives at the Gala in order to combat the terrible feelings that they were all having recently.

…

The Winter Wrap up ended without a hitch, it had even gone better than it had gone in all the previous years. Their conflicts with the dresses had been resolved, and they were ready to set off for the Gala the very next day. It had been almost a week since they last saw Dragonshy and they were ready to live their dreams the next night in an attempt to forget about the mysterious stallion.

Captain Fear had been forced to turn away from his Peeking glass so that he too could attend the Gala with his two soldiers. It was his job to infiltrate the Gala and find out what kind of security that Canterlot has. They were planning something big and Queen Chrysalis needed to make sure that it would be able to go down without too much problem.

Dragonshy had now been in his tomb for a little more than a week. That's what he is calling it now. It's a tomb since he is forced to do nothing except wait there and die.


	28. Chapter Twenty Eight-New Disguise

**Hello everyone. Before the story today, I would like to start out with an apology. I'm very sorry to have missed posting a new chapter last night. You should know that I did not go against my promise since I didn't actually sleep at all last night. Long story short, my dog died last night. I stayed up all night with her and buried her today. So I was too busy to write anything. Well, now that you know why there was no chapter yesterday, you can enjoy this one.**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty Eight-New Disguise**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Captain Fear was brooding in the corner of an alley way as his two soldiers applied ice packs to their hurt limbs. Everything had been going smoothly at the Gala at first. They had all gotten new and unrelated disguises. Nopony noticed the fact that they were imposters and they were able to properly assess the security in Canterlot during a main event. He had been surprised to see that the security was minimal at best. He wondered exactly how they planned on keeping riffraff out without enough guards. Thinking about keeping out riffraff made him remember the reason they were in the alley tending to their wounds. There was an outbreak of chaos. The doors were thrown open to reveal a mob of frightened animals, cake was flying everywhere, there were explosions coming from nowhere, and everypony ran in a mass of panic. In the whole ordeal, his two soldiers managed to get hurt and they were forced to leave the party.

The Captain could not bear to watch his pathetic excuse for soldiers lick their wounds, so he walked out to look around. He found himself at the train station. He hadn't been trying to go there, but he did want to see if there were any new disguises that might be better than the one that he was using. He sat on a bench and watched the ponies getting on and off of the train. It did not take long for a specific pony to catch his eye. It was a white unicorn with a blue mane. She was wearing sunglasses even though it was night and had headphones around her neck. Captain fear squinted to catch a glimpse of her cutie mark and found that had been right in his assumption. This was the very same mare that had been arrested with Draco.

He quickly began to formulate schemes that might help them in their cause. He had a feeling that Draco was getting energy from a different source, since he was not showing any effects of malnutrition. The queen had tried to assure him that such a thing was impossible and that she was the only pony alive that was able to channel love into energy and distribute it. He decided that this mare probably knew something about Draco that they did not. He quickly ran to catch up with them. Lucky for him, she had stopped to pay for her ticket and separated herself from everypony else. Captain fear waited in the crowd for her to get out of sight of the pony in the booth before tackling the mare, knocking her out, and quickly dragging her out of sight.

Captain Fear hastily made a cocoon for her. He guessed that the mares that she had been walking with would be looking for her before long. He loathed changing gender when taking on a disguise but he knew that he had no time to be picky. He quickly absorbed her energy and ran back to his soldiers.

When he found them he said, "Listen up you two! There is a mare behind the ticket booth in a cocoon. Retrieve her and take her to the capital for questioning. Report all of our findings and let the queen know that I will be absent from duty for a short time while I go further under cover."

Without waiting for their responses, he hurried back to the train station. When he got there, he changed form. He shuddered at the feeling of switching from stallion to mare. It always felt weird and he hated it but, again, there was no other choice. He ran to where he had left the mare and put on her sunglasses and headphones. He came out from behind the ticket booth just in time to see the group of ponies that had been accompanying her. They quickly approached him.

A purple unicorn spoke up when they reached him, "Is everything ok, Viñyl?"

He responded, "Oh yeah I… um… dropped my money when I was paying for the ticket. Sorry for making you wait."

All of the mares looked at each other in confusion. This frightened Captain Fear. He wondered if had already blown his cover with answering just one question.

The purple unicorn turned back to him and asked, "Are you sure that everything is ok? You're not talking the way that you normally do."

Captain Fear silently cursed himself. He hadn't gotten a chance to talk to his victim so that he could copy her accent. Now he had no idea how he was supposed to talk in order to sound like her.

He smiled and said, "Oh… well… I… um… Oh, that's our train, we'd better hurry on."

He ran ahead of them and jumped onto the train. He was quickly joined by them. They decided to just let it go and ignore the fact that Viñyl was talking oddly. They all piled into their first-class car and began to talk about happenings of the night. Captain Fear took note of the fact that they were all trying very hard to appear happy. They were obviously masking an inner sadness. He did his best to copy their emotional turmoil and make up stories about what he had done all night. He was able to figure out the important part of his disguise. His name was Viñyl, he was a DJ, and he is supposed to be a party-crazed sex-addict. He could tell that he was not going to like this disguise at all. He hated modern music and he hated being a mare. There was no way he was going to spend the night with a stallion.

They all eventually fell asleep. Captain fear was a little disappointed that he hadn't really gotten any information on Draco. He was sure that these mares associated with Draco while he was running from the law. No doubt the reason that they're sad is because he was taken away from them. In which case, that means that they were close to him. Captain Fear knew that there had to be some way that they were giving Draco energy from a distance. He fell asleep as he contemplated his next move.

It was mid-day when they arrived at the Ponyville train station.

Captain Fear picked one of the ponies at random and asked, "Hey, Pinkiepie. Are you busy today?" He had made an effort to learn all of their names while they were on the train.

Pinkiepie smiled at him and said excitedly, "Viñyl, call me Pinkie! All of my friends call me Pinkie! I was just going to Sugarcube Corner, did you want to come?!"

Captain fear was slightly taken aback by the energy that was displayed by this mare. He considered leaving and picking one of the other ones to follow. A quick glance around told him that it would not be able to be done with anypony else since they had all already left them.

Captain Fear tried his best to sound hip since that is what his disguise is supposed to be, "Cool, sounds like a party. Count me in."

Pinkiepie gave him a look of confusion and said, "That's not what a party sounds like, you silly filly! This is what a party sounds like!"

Before Captain Fear could do anything, Pinkiepie pulled noise-makers out from nowhere and began spinning them as she yelled, "Woooo! Yeah! Party!"

Captain Fear decided not to try and sound hip anymore as he began pushing Pinkiepie saying, "Alright, I get it. Let's just go."

Eventually, Pinkiepie threw the noise-makers behind her and began walking down a road with Captain Fear following her. He found himself in a candy store. He wanted to get out as soon as he walked in. It was so obnoxiously colorful. He needed to get the answers he wanted and fast.

Pinkiepie began jumping around as she asked, "What do you want to try, Viñyl?! We've got cupcakes, pound cakes, carrot cakes, little cakes, big cakes, wedding cakes, birthday cakes, ice cream cakes, chocolate cakes, vanilla cakes…"

Captain Fear interrupted her, not wanting her to go on about the obvious multitude of cakes that she had available, "Actually, Pinkie, I just wanted to talk for a bit."

Pinkiepie stopped bouncing and asked, "Oh, what did you want to talk about?"

Captain Fear decided to just come right out and ask, "Do you know anything about a pony named Draco?"

Pinkiepie thought for a moment and asked, "Do you mean Dragon?"

Captain Fear looked at her curiously and asked, "Dragon?"

Pinkiepie nodded vigorously and said, "Yeah, Dragon, as in Dragonshy."

That's when Captain Fear remembered what the queen had said when she had first had Draco in front of him in the throne room. She had commented on the fact that he had gone under the alias of Dragonshy.

He quickly confirmed it, "Yes, I'm talking about… Dragonshy. What was he doing before he was taken away?"

Pinkiepie laughed and answered, "Well you should know! You were the last pony to see him!"

Captain fear cringed at this statement but decided to try another approach, "Who was closest to him while he was here?"

Pinkiepie answered without thinking this time, "That would be Fluttershy and Rainbowdash!"

Captain Fear gave a sigh of relief. He had finally gotten some information to work with. He recognized the names as two of the mares that had ridden on the train with them.

He quickly chose one and asked, "Could you tell me how to get to Fluttershy's house?"

Pinkiepie nodded, ran into the kitchen, and came back out within seconds. She had a rolled up piece of paper in her mouth and she unrolled it onto the floor in front of Captain Fear. He looked at it and realized that it was a map of Ponyville. At the top of the paper was the text "Fluttershy's Hut". There was an 'x' on a point just outside of Ponyville.

Pinkiepie pointed at the map and said, "We're here and her hut is over here."

Captain Fear easily took a mental photo of the map. He had a very good memory when he wanted to. He thanked Pinkiepie and quickly exited the store. He did not want to in there or with her for any longer than he had to be. As he was walking down the road to the hut, he weighed his options. He was trying to decide whether he should stay in disguise and ask her in a subtle way or if he should break character and just interrogate her. Either way, he was not going to leave that house until he had the answers he was looking for, even he had to beat all the answers out of Fluttershy in order to get them. He was the best interrogator in the Changeling capital. The only problem with his methods was the fact that the pony that was being interrogated normally died from the wounds sustained during the questioning. However, Captain Fear always got the answers that he was after.


	29. Chapter Twenty Nine-Minor Setbacks

**A Great Change: Chapter Twenty Nine-Minor Setbacks**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Captain Fear eventually made it to Fluttershy's hut. He decided that he was going to interrogate her like he would if he were with a criminal. He had pieced together that the disguise he was currently using was not a pony that normally was with the ponies that he was trying to get information from. He planned on interrogating her until she was near-death and then transform into her. With a disguise of one of the inner circle of friends, and on that had been close to Draco, eh would be able to get all of the information that he was looking for. He knocked on the door and waited.

It took a little longer than he had expected for the door to open, revealing a pegasus that was not the one he was looking for. He recognized this one as being Rainbowdash. That meant that this was one of the two who had been close to Draco during his time in Ponyville. He was about to engage her when he stopped and thought. With her here, and this not being her house, which must mean that she was not alone in the hut.

As if to prove him right, a soft voice was heard coming from behind Rainbowdash asking, "Who is it, Rainbowdash?"

Rainbowdash smiled and stepped to the side so that Fluttershy could see who it was as she answered, "It's just Viñyl. What's up?"

Captain Fear quickly re-thought his plan. With two of them here, he would not be able to take the form of one of them, since the other one would notice somepony missing. He considered knocking them both out, but that would result in a missing friend and the other ones would probably go wild looking for the missing friend. He decided that he would have to be subtle and get his answers the annoying way. He would have to talk and act like he was the pony he was pretending to be.

Using everything he knew already, he responded, "I know that you two probably don't want to talk about this, but I was actually wondering if I could find out more about Dragonshy. I know that I was the last one to see him, but I realize that I don't really know all that much about him. It would really help bring me closure if you could answer some questions for me. I figured that you two probably knew him the best, so you'd be the best ponies to ask."

He smiled, awkwardly, and waited for their response. The both just stood there and stared at him as if he were a different color than he should be. He checked to make sure that was not the case.

Rainbowdash was first to speak and Captain Fear soon realized that he might as well walked up with the wrong color, "Viñyl? Is that really you? You're not talking how you normally do."

Fluttershy stepped forward and placed a hoof on his head as she asked, "Are you not feeling well?"

Captain Fear had run into situations like this before, but in those situations he had just broken the disguise and killed the accusers. He was not able to do that here. He would have to talk his way out of it.

He laughed awkwardly and tried to cover it up, "Oh yeah… that. I um… I only talk like that when I am working. I've got an image to keep up, you know what I mean?"

Captain Fear was surprised when Rainbowdash seemed to buy his explanation so quickly and said, "Oh, that's what it was. I get it. It's like the whole fake name thing, right?"

Captain Fear sighed in relief and said, "Exactly. So, about my questions…"

The reminder of why he was there seemed to dampen Rainbowdash's high spirits. Fluttershy quickly stepped in and guided Rainbowdash back into the house while motioning for him to follow them.

When they sat down in the living room, Fluttershy said, "Well I'm happy to help in any way that I can. What did you want to know?"

Captain Fear thought about how to phrase his words and asked the question, "Well I heard that Changelings needed to get their nutrients from energy provided by their queen or something like that. How come he never starved to death when he was living here, with you?"

Fluttershy explained as best she could, "I'm not really sure myself actually. At first, I thought that I was the only one that was able to provide energy for him. Soon though, Rainbowdash was also able to give him energy. Also, when he was out spending the day with the others, they were able to give him energy as well. So I began to think that everypony was able to give him love until you had mentioned that he had not responded in any way to your advances on the train. So I'm not really sure how it works exactly."

Rainbowdash continued with what Fluttershy had been saying, "I, for one, think that it's because of the elements."

Captain Fear did not recognize this term and asked, "The elements?"

Rainbowdash continued, "Yeah, the Elements of Harmony. The only ponies that have been able to give energy to Dragonshy have been Fluttershy, me, Pinkiepie, and Applejack. We each gave the energy to Dragonshy in a way that is the same as the element that we represent. I bet that, if Dragonshy were given the chance, he would be able to get energy from Twilight and Rarity too. That's why I think that the elements are giving us some kind of power to give the energy to Dragonshy."

Captain Fear quickly took in all the information and said, "Well that's very clever of you, Rainbowdash. I think that you may be on to something there. Well thanks for answering my question. That was really bugging me. I'll just be going home now."

Rainbowdash cut him off before he made it to the door and said, "Actually I'm glad that you stopped by. I was going to head to your place anyway."

Captain Fear did not like what he was hearing but smiled and sounded interested when he inquired, "Oh yeah? What did you need?"

Rainbowdash did not hesitate to ask her question, "We were going to go to a party to help cheer us up and I was wondering if you could get us into the club over by the train station. I know that it's a lot smaller than and not as professional as the ones that you normally DJ at in Las Pegasus, but I know that you've been the DJ there before and the bouncer won't let me in."

Captain Fear was at a loss for words. He had to keep in character in order to keep Rainbowdash in the dark, but he needed to get to a spot where he could formulate a plan based on the information that he had just been given. In order to stay in character, he would have to say yes to her request. He was supposed to be a party-crazed sex-addict. He smiled inwardly at this thought. He figured a way out of the situation.

He scurried around Rainbowdash as he said, "I'd love to, Rainbowdash, but I actually have a stallion headed to my house right now. I really want to get an early start to help take my mind off things. Maybe some other time, ok?"

Rainbowdash seemed flustered when he brought up this topic.

She blushed and franticly answered her, "Oh… ok… no problem. Um… you have fun tonight."

She laughed awkwardly and rubbed the back of her head with her hoof. Captain Fear got some satisfaction from seeing her in this state and decided to tease her a bit.

He leaned in closer to her and whispered, "Oh don't worry… I will."

Rainbowdash could not stand the mood that his voice was carrying and jumped back, breathing heavily.

Captain Fear laughed and said, "Oh man, you virgins are hilarious."

Fluttershy flew to Rainbowdash's side and tried to calm her down as he responded to Captain Fear, "Oh it's just the opposite, actually. She just recently had her first time and she still hasn't gotten over the fact that she can't remember it."

Rainbowdash's face turned completely red and she whispered to Fluttershy, "Fluttershy, you don't have to tell everypony about that."

Fluttershy smiled warmly, hugged Rainbowdash and said softly, "Oh I'm sorry Rainbowdash, but she's right. It is kind of funny to see you like this. It's so cute."

Fluttershy let go as Rainbowdash asked with a slight blush remaining on her face, "Really?"

Fluttershy nodded and said, "Oh yes. Of course."

Fluttershy gently kissed Rainbowdash on the forehead and turned to the doorway where Captain Fear had been standing.

Fluttershy just shrugged, turned to Rainbowdash, and said, "Come on, let's go to bed."

…

Captain Fear was already at the main road within seconds of leaving the hut. It was beginning to get a little too weird in there for him. Going by what he remembered of the map that Pinkiepie had shown him, he found his way to the spot that had been labeled 'Viñyl's House'. He decided that he might as well use the establishments that were available to him in his disguise.

He found it a little odd that there were lights on in the house even though he wasn't there. He walked in through the front door and saw that it was a very odd house. The main room that was there as soon as he walked was dark, even with the lights on and there was a large desk of some sort against one of the walls. Deciding that it would be the best place to think, he walked up to the desk. It was unlike any desk that he had seen before. Instead of a flat top with a stack of parchment on one side and a vial of ink on the other, there were two large disks with needles steadying them onto the desk. There were also nobs and switches on either side of the two disks. Curiosity took the better of him and he pushed the biggest button on the desk. Instantly, the room was filled with a rhythmic base that sounded every second. He quickly pressed the button again, hoping to stop the insanely loud sounds that were vibrating through his damaged ears.

He jumped down from the stage that the desk was on, not wanting anything else to do with it.

Before he was able to take five steps toward the next room, he heard a voice yell, "Viñyl? Is that you?"

Before Captain Fear could hide, there was a very handsome stallion standing in the doorway. He was brown with a black mane and he was wearing jet-black, leather pants with straps that went over his shoulders.

As soon as he saw her, he said, "Hey! It is you! Hey, guys! Viñyl's home!"

After he announced this, two more stallions joined him in the doorway and they all stood side-by-side. One of them was black with a red mane and the other was blue with a white mane. They were all earth-ponies and they all wore the same thing.

Once they had all gotten in a line they each bowed and said in unison, "Welcome home, Mistress."

Captain Fear almost fainted after seeing that. He could tell that he was not going to be able to do any planning that night.

…

Dragonshy was in his tomb, sleeping. He was jolted awake by a surge of magic that seemed to come from the jewel in the middle of the tomb. As he looked at it, it began to glow brighter than it usually did and sparks of magic started shooting form it. There was a flash of light and Dragonshy found himself in an arena of some sort.

Dragonshy looked in front of him to see a rather large Changeling and asked, "What is this place? What's going on?"

The Changeling laughed and said, "Don't act so clueless, Commander. It's not going to work. You know very well that this is the Challenger's Arena and that I am here to kill you for your rank!"

Dragonshy was shocked. He had no idea what this Changeling was talking about. He had so many questions. He wanted to know why he had called him Commander, how he had gotten there, why he was trying to kill him, and how exactly he was supposed to stop the monster of a Changeling that was charging straight for him.


	30. Chapter Thirty-Resolve

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty-Resolve**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy was terrified. Here was the biggest Changeling that he has ever seen, charging right at him. Dragonshy attempted to side-step the charge and dodge it, but he was met with a well-timed body check. This force of the blow was so strong that it sent Dragonshy sprawling into the wall of the arena which also created a massive dent in the wall. Dragonshy sat there, rubbing his head, and he looked up just in time to see the challenger charging at him again. He had no time to do anything before his body was slammed into the wall a second time but, this time, it was held there. He could feel his ribs cracking under the weight of his opposition.

The challenger smiled and taunted when he saw Dragonshy cringing at the pain, "I'm actually very disappointed, Commander. I've heard so much about how nopony has been able to last more than five minutes in the arena with you. But here I am with not a scratch on me and crushing you to death."

He ended his taunt with a malicious laugh. He pressed harder into Dragonshy's chest and Dragonshy was not even able to yell in pain because his lungs were completely compressed. He knew he had to do something fast before he died. He did the first thing that popped into his head and that was to sink his teeth into the challenger's shoulder. The challenger yelled in pain and threw Dragonshy off of him. Dragonshy stopped himself in the air and, flapping his wings as fast as he could, he decided to test the flying capabilities of his opponent. He flew circles around the arena until he felt that he had picked up enough speed. He then dove down, pulling up just before he hit the ground. Dragonshy sped toward the challenger. The giant brute raised his hoof to knock Dragonshy right out of the sky. Dragonshy easily saw what was coming and just allowed his body to react naturally.

Dragonshy had learned that it was best in combat situations for him to just let his body do what it wanted. At the beginning of the fight, he had been trying to think his way through the battle but, as soon as he started reacting to what he felt was right, he started turning the tide of the battle.

Dragonshy did a small barrel roll to barely dodge the hoof that crushed the ground in the area that he would have otherwise occupied. Dragonshy was actually very impressed at his own speed. He had only a tenth of a second to pull off what he just did and did it with time to spare. Once he was underneath the challenger, he made a ninety degree turn and flew straight through the fore hoof that had stayed on the ground. There was a sound like a log breaking on a boulder as the bone shattered from Dragonshy's high-velocity strike. Dragonshy kept forward as if he had not hit anything. The challenger was forced to fall forward since he had no fore hooves supporting his front. Dragonshy noticed that this all happened before the rocks that had been kicked up by his opponent's attack even fell to the floor. Dragonshy quickly changed direction and caught one of the larger rocks just inches from the ground. He then flew straight toward the ceiling. When he judged that he was high enough, he dropped downward and descended so fast that there was an explosion when he broke the sound barrier.

When the dust had cleared, Dragonshy had to wipe the rubble from his face and blink several times before everything came into focus. He had been dazed from the impact with the ground and everything was spinning. He silently promised himself that he would never go that fast again. He went to wipe his face again when he noticed that there was blood going up his fore leg. He looked at the other one to see that there was blood on that one too. At the realization of what happened, he stopped and looked at what he was sitting on. He was sitting on the body of the now beheaded challenger. He looked around and saw no head anywhere. There was a lot of blood though and the thought occurred to him was that maybe he had crushed his opponent's head completely. He inspected the rock and the ground around him to find that there was plenty of evidence supporting his new theory. Once he had seen this, Dragonshy fainted.

He woke up back in his tomb. There was an intense light coming from the crystal in the center. Afraid that he was about to be teleported again, he just backed up as much as he could and stared at it. To his surprise, a small image of Queen Chrysalis appeared.

The image cleared its throat and spoke in the Queen's voice, "That was an interesting fight, Commander Draco. I was surprised to see you let him man-handle you like you did but it ended as I had expected it to. Congratulations on continuing your 'Dead in Five Minutes or Less' motto. Well heal up, it is required that I give you at least eight hours to heal before I let in the next challenger. If you thought this was hard to do without a source of energy from me, then wait until you see the size of the line of Changelings that are waiting to fight you. After a few more rounds, you won't even be able to stand!"

The message ended with a joyous laugh from the Queen. Dragonshy dropped onto the ground and sighed desperately. He could not imagine fighting more Changelings like he just had. The challenger had mentioned that he wanted to kill him and the match wasn't over until Dragonshy had delivered the final blow, even when Dragonshy was near-death in the beginning. Dragonshy eventually figured out that the arena fights were to-the-death. He loathed the thought of having to kill more ponies even more than he was scared of himself dying.

Dragonshy remembered the injuries that he had sustained in the fight and felt his sides to see if they still hurt. He found that there was no pain at all when he touched them. He silently thanked Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. He knew that they were somehow feeding him energy and were healing him with it. With this thought he decided that he would have to kill more ponies. He wanted, more than anything else in the world, to be reunited with Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. After his resolve, he didn't care how many ponies he would have to kill. As long as he was able to be with his favorite mares again, it would be worth it. He had made this resolve just in time. He didn't know how long he had been passed out, but it must have been almost eight hours since the jewel in the middle of the tomb was glowing as it had before. He closed his eyes and allowed it to teleport him. As his eyes were closed, he envisioned Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. With new found vigor, he opened his eyes, ready to charge whatever adversary they threw at him.

…

Captain Fear was not having a very good time either. He had just found out that Viñyl had three stallions living with her that referred to her as their 'mistress'. Only one thing came to mind as to why they addressed her as such and he did not like the thought of partaking in such "festivities".

He quickly said as he backed at the doorway to the house, "I uh… forgot something. I'll just um… be back later."

He turned around and, before he could take a step over the threshold, he found the doorway blocked by one of the stallions. When he looked over his shoulder, he saw that the other two had taken up positions behind him.

The one barring his way out spoke up in a threatening tone, "Viñyl, you've never left without returning our greeting before. You've got a different speech pattern, you're not walking how you normally do, you're wearing your headphones upside-down, you were about to leave without saying good bye, and you turned off the stereo when normally you'd leave it on from the time you got home to the time you leave. You're not really Viñyl, are you? You're in an imposter! Where is the real Viñyl?!"

The three stallions began closing in on him, tightening the circle that they had trapped him in.

In an attempt to save his cover, Captain Fear pleaded, "I don't know what you're talking about. It's me, guys. I just forgot something at the train station is all."

The stallion in front of him smiled, kept on advancing, and said in response, "Viñyl never brings anything with her except for her sunglasses and headphones. I can see that you have both of those so I can't imagine what might be on the train."

Captain Fear desperately tried to come up with an explanation as the trio grew closer and closer, "I uh… it's um… my money. That's what I forgot."

Captain Fear smiled but retracted it at the seriousness in the face and voice of the stallion in front of him, "Let's say I believe that. Tonight is bondage night, so we're going to have to hear the safe word before we let you go anywhere."

Captain Fear saw no other option than to fight them. He raised a hoof to knock the out the stallion in front of him, but his hoof was promptly restrained by a rope thrown by one of the other ones. He brought it close to his mouth so that he could bite the rope off, but a rope was wrapped around his waist and pulled tight at the same time that the rope around his hoof was pulled away from his head. The two stallions behind him made short work of tying both of his fore hooves to his sides. The two of them picked him and threw him to the ground so violently that the wind was knocked out of him. The third one seized the small window of opportunity where Captain Fear was dazed in order to tie his two hind legs together.

Captain Fear struggled to free himself from the bonds that had been masterfully tied to him. The three stallions watched him squirm as they took a minute to catch their breath.

One of them stood up, walked over to him, and said, "It's no use to get out from those. Viñyl's been practicing those knots with us ever since we started working for her. She is a master escape artist and they can even hold her in one place."

Another one stepped forward and said, "Yeah, the only way that you'll be getting out of those is by saying the safe word."

Captain Fear tried to reason with them, "What if I forgot the safe word?"

The one who had brought it up shrugged as he answered, "Then you endure the night."

Captain Fear gulped. He did not at all like the sound of that.

As the two who had talked began to drag him toward the bedroom, the last one began to follow and said, "Whether you're the real Viñyl or not, you're going to have a very long night. We've been trained to make it last all night long."

With the three of them laughing and Captain Fear whimpering threw the gag that they shoved in his mouth, they threw him into the bedroom, closed the door, and pad-locked it. It did not take long for Captain Fear to notice that there were no windows and there was an ambiance to the room that scared the living hell out of him. He racked his brain for a way out of the situation but found that he could not think straight when he saw the three stallions dawning leather costumes and taking up whips. He considered swallowing his gag to kill himself, but decided against it. He had promised himself when he first met Draco, that he would take the rank of commander even if it killed him. He decided that he would figure a way out of this. He just hoped that he did so quickly when he saw that his captors were finished with their preparations.


	31. Chapter Thirty One-Defeat

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty One-Defeat**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy would not be recognizable even by his closest friends. He was covered in blood and gore. The only feature that was visible was his glowing, green eyes. The showed the anger and persistence that resided within him. He stood atop a mount of corpses. He had taken a new challenger every eight hours for the past week. He didn't care anymore. At first, he felt bad that he was killing somepony. But, after so many challenges with the same outcome, he became numb to the feeling of taking a life. When once he saw a fellow Changeling in front of him, he now saw an obstacle that was keeping him from the ponies that he cared about. He took on opponent after opponent and did not think on any of the deaths. He found that he was spending his rest time warming up and staying moving so that he was ready for the next match.

He had slowly been getting faster with each kill. He no longer relied on his natural instincts to fight for him. He had picked up the movements and combat positions that he used in every fight. He was now able to plan out each kill to be faster and more efficient. This last match was had been his fastest yet. He had killed his opponent in less than thirty seconds. He saw the sparks of magic begin to appear around him. He knew that this was preparation for a teleport back to his tomb.

He quickly shook himself clean and yelled, "Hold it!"

After he had yelled out, the sparks disappeared and he could tell that the preparations had been halted.

He yelled out again, "I don't need these breaks that you're giving me! It's clear that I am not tiring and I am not taking any wounds from the battles! I say that you just keep the challengers coming! I want to get through them as fast as possible."

The image of Queen Chrysalis appeared before him and she asked, "Tell me, Commander, why are you so eager to fight these challengers?"

Dragonshy glared at her and said, "Because the sooner I get through all of them, the sooner I am freed."

Queen Chrysalis responded with joyous laugh and said, "Commander, I sentenced you to prison for life. Whether you get through every possible challenger or not, you will rot in that cell of yours. Now take this grace period, as it is required by our law."

Dragonshy was speechless. He just stood there, unmoving, when the teleportation commenced. When he was in his tomb again, he dropped to the floor. He could feel tears welling up in his eyes and he could not find the willpower in himself to even attempt to keep the tears at bay. He allowed them to stream down his face. He could not bear the realization that there is no chance of him ever seeing Rainbowdash or Fluttershy ever again. He lay on the ground, crying, trembling, and yelling. He could not think of a reason for him to go on. If he was doomed to die there and there was no chance of freedom, he figured that it would make no difference for him to take his own life. He had already scoped out the tomb and the arena and found no possible ways of escape. He had already tried to gain his freedom through his deeds in prison, but now he found it out that all his efforts are futile. He figured that he could just save himself a lot of time and effort if he just killed himself.

It was settled. He decided to allow his next challenger to win. He was going to just lie down and allow the challenger to kill him.

Dragonshy ceased his crying and began to say his good byes, "Good bye Fluttershy. Thank you for saving me from that crater and giving me the chance to experience what it was like to have great friends. I am sorry that I never did properly say good bye to you. I left you with disappointment in your eyes and I didn't even take the hint to come back. I should have embraced you and promised my safe return. Maybe that would have stalled me for long enough to the point that I would not have been in the wagon when the other ponies saw me… Good bye Rainbowdash. Thank you for giving me a place to stay when I became too much for Fluttershy's couch and for showing me the joy in flying. I'm sorry that the last time I saw you was during an argument. I wish that I could have one more chance with both of you redo my last good byes… Good bye Pinkiepie. I know that you can be insufferable at times, but your random antics never cease to amuse me. Rarity, Twilight, Spike, and Applejack… Good bye to you as well. I know that our time together was short lived, but every moment of it was a treasure to me. Fare well… friends..."

Even though it was not his intent, he fell asleep right as he ended his farewell speech. He did not wake up until several hours later, when the crystal began to glow again. Dragonshy just opened his eyes, glanced at where the light was coming from, and closed his eyes again. When he appeared in the arena, he was just lying on the ground. He did not even look at the challenger. He did not care. He just wished that he had found out about this sooner, so that he did not have to kill all of those Changelings before. He would have just ended it one the first one and it would have been over. Another round of tears began to form when he realized that all of those Changelings had died for nothing. He had thought that he did not care that he killed them but, now, he felt the misery that one is supposed to feel after taking twenty-one lives. He felt that he deserved to die for his deeds. He thought to himself that this was it. This was how his story would end.

…

Captain Fear had spent the last seven days tied to Viñyl's bed. He had just barely survived the first night. He had fainted four times only to be revived to continue the 'activities'. He hated to be a mare because it felt weird just being one when he was actually a stallion. He was now experiencing his hatred of being a mare on an entirely different level. The next days after that were just as bad if not worse. He had gone through bondage, S&M, punishment, hardcore, slavery, and toys. Each one had been as painful and humiliating as the last. It was more rigorous than the training he had to go through during his time at boot camp. He had tried to change back to his real form as a way of discouraging them from proceeding, but it took some time of concentration in order for him to change form and he could not get even a moment to concentrate. The three stallions had their way with him until he fainted and they would either wake him up or let him rest until their next session. Captain Fear simple could not find a way out of it.

To make it worse, they were constantly asking him who he really was and what he had done with the real Viñyl. No matter how much he wanted to, Captain Fear could not leak information about him or the capital. If he did, the Queen would sense it and stop sending him energy. After thinking about it, he decided that would also be a reason as to why he should not change back to his true form. He knew that the only way he was going to end his torture was by escaping somehow.

Captain Fear woke up on his seventh day and decided that he hated his life. He opened his eyes only to see one of the stallions in front of him, waiting for him to wake up. The stallion whistled and, as the other two made their way to the room, Captain Fear surveyed his surroundings. He still had every hoof tied to a corner of the bed and he was still gagged. There were no windows in the room and the only way out was the door that the two stallions were walking through, but that had a padlock and dead bolt on it. From what he could tell, the walls were completely sound-proof. This was the perfect room to hold somepony captive.

The brown stallion walked up to him and said, "Well, you up for another day? Or are you ready to talk?"

Captain Fear did not answer. He just looked straight forward as he tried to come up with a plan of escape.

The stallion just shrugged and said, "Have it your way. You know, you're not resisting as much as you did the first day. Are you starting to enjoy it maybe?"

He smiled, the other two laughed, and Captain Fear Glared at them, eyes ablaze with pure hatred for each and every one of them as he said, "Why would anypony enjoy such foul 'activities'?! I have simply given up on trying to get out, since it is obviously futile! However, I will not being breaking… ever!"

The smiles on their faces disappeared and the brown one spoke again, "Well we'll see about that. If you think that we're going to give up, then you've got another thing coming. We each love Viñyl entirely and would sooner die before we let somepony walk around disguised as her!"

The stallion that had been talking actually grabbed Captain Fear and shook him. This stallion was very strong because, in his rage, he actually snapped one of the ropes. Captain Fear reacted immediately. He punched the one that was grabbing him, knocking him unconscious. He then whipped the rope around to wrap it around the necks of the other two. He pulled it tight and they were forced together, unable to move temporarily. Captain Fear took this opportunity to chew through the rope on his other hoof and quickly untied the restraints on his legs. With all of his limbs free, he kicked both of the other stallions before they were able to untangle themselves.

He looked at all three of them on the ground and was not satisfied. He wanted to kill each one of them, or even take on the form of them. He was about to start the process of cocooning one of them when he thought for a moment. He needed to be a unicorn for the next phase in his plan. He decided that he should just set the room on fire and leave, which he did. He ran for the train station and boarded the next train to Canterlot. On the train, he allowed himself a smile. He got his revenge for his six long days of torture.

Once in Canterlot, he ran to the stone gardens. It did not take long for him to find the statue that he was searching for. Discord. When he found out that Dragonshy was getting energy by using the elements of harmony, he knew that he had to find a way of rendering the elements of harmony useless. The only thing that he could think of was to release Discord, the only being alive that had magic almost on par with the elements.

Focusing his magic, Captain Fear zapped the statue with a very powerful spell that he had learned from Queen Chrysalis. He felt the magic in the air and knew that Discord had been awakened.

Captain Fear knew that it would take a few minutes for the stone to melt away so he made his demands, "I have freed you from your eternal prison, Discord. I expect compensation in the form of a favor. There are six mares in Ponyville that resemble the Elements of Magic. They are posing as problems to our plans so I need your help. All you need to do is make it so that they are not able to use the elements at all. Do that, and you are free to do whatever you wish. As long as you stay out of the Changelings' way, that is. Remember, you are bound by the laws of old. You have no choice but to carry out my request. Farewell and good luck."

Captain Fear Ran off with a huge smile plastered on his face. He was going straight back to the capital. He was just in time for his exit since a group of fillies and colts from the Ponyville School were coming to look at the very statue that had been brought to life not moments before. Discord could feel his power returning to him as he listened to the petty arguments of young ponies. He thought to himself that Ponyville might be a fun place to set up the chaos capital he had been planning last time he walked the planet.


	32. Chapter Thirty Two-Vinyl's Return

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty Two- Vi****ñ****yl's Return**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Discord flew around, freely, for the first time in centuries. He absolutely hated being imprisoned in that block of stone. He had been able to see and hear everything that happened around him, but he was unable to move at all. It killed him to not be able to mess with ponies. That was how he achieved joy in his life. After flying for a good hour, he decided that he had better get to work on repaying the debt that he owed to the pony that released him from his prison.

Discord's magic was different from pony magic. In order for his magic to work, he needed to release an aura around him that threw everything around him into discord. The bigger the aura, the stronger he became. Anything that is changed within the aura will remain changed until Discord removes the enchantments that had been placed on it. So if something happened to leave the aura after being changes, it would stay that way. It would take some time for him to achieve the size of aura that he was looking for, so he started to make one. All he had to do was release a bit of his magic into the air and then it would spread as far as he allowed it to. When he was flying, he happened to be stop above the train station. Discord just shrugged and fell asleep on the ceiling of the station. He would allow his magic to spread before he began to wreak havoc on the ponies that possessed the Elements of Harmony. With them out of the way, he would be free to do whatever he wanted.

The magic quickly spread throughout the station and soon ropes were coming to life, ticket booths were shooting tickets everywhere, chairs and benches were breaking, and wet floor signs disappeared. Discord quickly fell asleep to the melodious tones of chaos.

…

Captain Fear had run straight for the train station. He was so excited to get back to the capital and challenge Commander Draco that he could hardly contain himself. He went on to repeatedly envision the battle that he would have with Draco. He just saw himself standing over a starving Draco and then he would kick him until he died. Captain Fear decided that things were going to start going his way from now on.

Just as his train was pulling up, the bench broke from underneath him. Confused, he looked around to see that terrible things were happening all over the station. Captain Fear panicked. He had not expected Discord to begin his rampage at the train station. He took off to board the train but stopped dead in his tracks when he felt a terrible headache come on. The pain in his head was excruciating. His head throbbed and throbbed and throbbed until suddenly, it stopped. The headache was gone, but he could not move.

Captain Fear was greatly troubled when he saw that he lifted his fore-hoof without trying to and spoke without putting in the thought to speak, "'Ey! I'm back! That was some dream. 'Ey, why can't I move?"

Captain Fear had no idea what was going on and could think of nothing else to say except, "Hello? Who is that?"

There was a response almost immediately, "What the 'ay was that? I just talked without tryin' ta."

Captain Fear was just as confused, "Just tell me who you are."

He spoke again without trying, "I've got no idea who you are, but this is my body 'n you'd better get the 'ay out before I kick yo flank outa 'ere myself."

Captain Fear could not wrap his head around what exactly was going on. He tried to speak again, but found that he no longer had any control of the mouth. He felt an odd sensation and he realized that he was slowly moving without trying to. He was getting on the train and he could not stop it. He wanted to stop it because this was not the train that he wanted to get on, This was the train that would take him back to Ponyville.

Captain Fear desperately tried to say something and he thought to himself what he wanted to say, "Stop! Don't get on that train! It will take me back to those sex-crazed stallions!"

He felt the body stop and it spoke, "Ah so you met Bruno, Hugo, and Maxie? Well then I won't have ta introduce you when we get back ta my house."

Captain Fear finally figured it out and thought to himself again, "Viñyl? How the hell are you here? Why can't I control my body anymore? will you please not go back to your house?!"

Viñyl spoke again, this time she spoke in her head, "I 'ope you can 'ear me 'cause I'm only gunna say this once. I don't care who's body this WAS, 'cause it's mine now. I'm assumin' that you're the one that knocked me out? Well you deserve this."

Captain Fear spoke again, "You can't just come out of nowhere and take my body!"

Viñyl sat down as the train pulled away from the station and she thought back to Captain Fear, "Why not? You did."

That statement shut Captain Fear up. He spent the next hour trying to get the body to move, but to no avail.

Eventually, Captain Fear heard, "Stop tryin' wouldya? It takes a lot of concentration to keep you from movin."

Captain Fear finally figured out why she was able to control the body and he wasn't. It was a combination of two things. One being that the body was in the form of Viñyl, so she was given a better chance of taking control. If they were to transform into his form, hey would be given an advantage over her. The second factor was thought. The control of the body is fought over by the two minds that are there. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but she was forcing his mind out of the picture with the power of her own mind. With the advantage of being in her form, her mind was stronger than his.

He decided that he would have to wait for her to fall asleep, and then he would transform into his form. He figured that it would not take that long since there was a sleeping spell placed on the train. It did not take long for Viñyl to feel the effects and fall asleep. However, Captain Fear felt himself fall asleep at the same time that Viñyl did.

When he finally woke up, he could see that they were pulling up to the Ponyville train station. He quickly tried to take control of the body before Viñyl woke up.

When he did so, all he got in response was a thought thrown at him, "Were you tryin' ta take control the 'ntire time I was sleepin'?"

Captain Fear did not answer, he was too perplexed as to why the two of them fell asleep and woke up at the same time. As they were walking off of the train, Viñyl hit her knee on the doorway. When this happened, she pulled back in pain and Captain Fear could clearly feel the pain as well. Captain Fear thought about it, he had come up with a theory.

He searched for a feeling, any feeling, and when he found one he thought out loud, "Hey Viñyl, are you hungry?"

He heard a response shortly, "Yeah, why? You hungry?"

Captain Fear just said, "Yes. Yes I am."

Viñyl had brought them to a restaurant and ordered some hay fries. While they were waiting for the food, Captain Fear went over what he had learned. Their nervous system was linked somehow. He was able to feel and experience everything that Viñyl was feeling and experiencing. Just as he thought this, Viñyl bit into her own arm. Captain Fear felt the harsh pain going up the arm and could taste the bitter taste of blood in the mouth.

Viñyl let go and began to lick the wound clean as she thought to him, "So ya weren't kiddin'. I guess I'm able ta read yo thoughts. So you can feel everythin' I feel?"

Captain Fear did not answer. He could not believe that her brain power was so great that she could actually hear the thoughts that he was not trying to think to her.

Viñyl thought to him again, "Well that's pretty sweet. Everythin' you think about, I can hear."

An idea came to Captain Fear. If she was hearing everything he was thinking, then he should just continuously concentrate on things and potentially drive her to insanity.

Before he could try he heard her voice again, "Go ahead 'n try. I figured out how ta block out yo thoughts if I don't wanna hear them."

Captain Fear was speechless. He never imagined that somepony with this much mental stability existed. She had figured out how to read his mind and block his thoughts within minutes. He was terrified as to how she would use this to her advantage. He began to think about what would happen if she were to change into a changeling.

He immediately regretted having the thought when he heard, "I can change form? That's awesome! Forget food, I wanna try that out."

Without waiting for her food to arrive, Viñyl leapt from the table and ran to a field outside Ponyville.

Captain Fear tried to explain the limitations to her, "You are only able to change between me and you. Any other transformations would involve trapping another pony in a cocoon and absorbing their appearance."

Viñyl focused and immediately transformed into Captain Fear. Captain Fear took this as his chance and tried to assume control of the body.

All he heard was laughter and Viñyl's voice, "Well it looks like ya still can't win, even when we're in yo form."

Captain Fear was shocked. Her mental prowess was so great that she was able to easily keep control even when she was in his form.

He heard her think, "This is awesome! I always wanted ta see what it's like ta be a bird."

Captain Fear thought to her, "Well keep hoping. You can't change into anything other than…"

His statement was cut short by Viñyl actually succeeding in changing into a bird. She had become a large raven. Then she turned into a dead tree. She turned into a black rat and then back to herself.

She thought smugly to him, "You were sayin'? I can only turn inta black things though. I'd wanted ta turn inta a blue jay, but I turned inta a crow thing instead."

Captain Fear was angry that she was able to transform at all and shouted back at her, "It was a Raven you stupid unicorn!"

Viñyl's voice responded very calmly, "Do ya really think you should be talkin' ta me like that? I've got total control of yo body. I should punish ya for that little outburst. I know! Let's go check up on my three favorite stallions."

Captain Fear screamed no the entire way to her house. Viñyl just blocked his protests out.

She opened the door, walked in, and found herself on the floor in seconds. She was pinned by a stallion on each fore-leg. The brown stallion stood above her.

He glared at her and said, "It was a mistake for you to come back here. Now, we're going to find out where Viñyl is, even if it kills you."

Viñyl said desperately, "What do ya think ya doin? Get off of me and greet me."

All three of the stallions jumped into line and said in unison, "Welcome home, Mistress."

Viñyl got up and said, "That's more like it. Bruno!"

The brown one stepped forward and responded, "Yes, Mistress?"

Viñyl asked him, "Why's ya attack me?"

He answered her question quickly, "A week ago, a pony showed up that looked just like you and tried to pass off for you. We saw right through their disguise and tried to get them to talk. Yesterday, he escaped and left us in a burning room. You've trained us to be light sleepers and we each woke up as soon as the smoke hit our noses. We've spent the past day trying to clean up the damage."

Viñyl nodded and said, "Well I'm very proud of ya fo' seein' through the disguise. Now listen up. I somehow took control of the pony that was actin' like me. Long story short, it's a guy 'n he can feel everythin' that I feel. I was thinkin' that we could celebrate my return and punish him at the same time. You guys up for it?"

The all smiled and said, "Yes, Mistress."

Viñyl turned on the stereo. Music came from every nook and cranny of the house. Captain Fear hated this music. There were no words and no rhythm to it. It was just an insanely loud base accompanied by random sounds that barely passed for musical notes. When he thought this, Viñyl smiled and turned it up. She then got herself comfortable on the large sofa that was in the living room and watched as the three stallions got ready for Captain Fear's 'punishment'. Captain Fear was forced to watch as well. he could only look at what she looked at, and he was not liking what he was seeing. He began to think to himself that he should have killed himself when he had the chance.

Viñyl smiled in the satisfaction of feeling his anguish and said, "C'mon, you know I hate waitin'."

**Sorry that I did not mention Dragonshy at all guys. I started explaining what Captain Fear was doing and got a little carried away. Before I know it, I ran out of room to add in Dragonshy's part. I promise that I will make it up to you and make next chapter entirely about Dragonshy. Thanks for your understanding!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**


	33. Chapter Thirty Three-Comrades

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty Three-Comrades**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy did not have the will to fight on. After realizing that there was no chance of him being able to return to Rainbowdash and Fluttershy, he did not see any point to keep on fighting for his life. He had already decided that he was going to let this challenger kill him.

He voice yell to him, "Get up, Commander! I'm not going to fall for one of your tricks! How stupid do you think that I am?!"

Dragonshy did not respond. He was going to let whatever happened happen. If the challenger didn't attack then that was fine. If the challenger walked over and killed him, then that was fine too.

The voice yelled again, "Hey! Didn't you hear me?! I said I wasn't going to fall for it!"

When there was no response the voice was heard again but, this time, it was softer and more questioning, "Commander? Commander Draco?"

Dragonshy heard hoof-steps coming towards him. His back was turned to his challenger. he did not even care enough to look into the face of his killer. He waited and heard the hoof-steps get louder and louder as the challenger got closer. When the challenger was almost on top of him, magic sparks began to fly through the air.

Dragonshy recognized these sparks as the preparation of a teleport spell but his challenger did not and asked, "What is going on?! How are you doing this?"

Dragonshy decided to get up and said, "I'm not…"

He was cut off by the challenger, who had tried to charge into Dragonshy. Dragonshy reacted immediately and jumped high enough into the air to allow the charge to pass underneath him.

Dragonshy landed to face his opponent as the challenger said to him, "I knew it! This was all one of your tricks!"

The magic sparks picked up their rate of fire and became more intense. The challenger made another charge and Dragonshy just side-stepped him and kicked him in his side, breaking several ribs and sending him flying into the far wall. Before the challenger could get up, Dragonshy was teleported.

Dragonshy shook himself and rubbed his eyes so that he could see. He looked around and quickly realized that he was not in his tomb or the arena. He was in a room full of magic-using Changelings.

The all looked at him, he looked at them and one of them asked their superior officer, "Sir, what just happened?"

The superior officer continued to stare at Dragonshy as he answered the question, "There have been reports of malfunctioning magic all day. Nopony knows why it is happening but the entire capital is in chaos because of it. It seems that our teleport crystals in the arena malfunctioned and brought Commander Draco here, the source of the power for the teleport crystals."

Dragonshy continued to stare at them as they all backed away from him and one said, "So this is actually the Commander? The one that killed twenty-two challengers for the past week with barely any rest?"

The superior officer gulped and said, "Yeah…"

In unison, they all ran as fast as they could out of the room that they had all been in. Dragonshy smiled. He was out of arena. His smile disappeared and his face became serious. He still needed to get out of the capital. He took a step toward the door and found his way blocked by four large Changelings. Dragonshy looked around and saw no other exits. He had no idea how he was going to get pass four Changelings, but he was going to try.

Before either party could do something, a whole formed between them. The four guards took it upon themselves to lean over the hole and look down it. There was an explosion that knocked out every single guard and confetti was everywhere. Dragonshy did a double take to verify that it was indeed confetti. That could only mean one thing.

As if on cue, Pinkiepie jumped out of the hole and yelled, "Surprise!"

Dragonshy blinked a few times and exclaimed, "Pinkie?! What are you doing here?!"

Pinkiepie walked up to him, shoved a cup cake in his mouth and said, "Well duh… I'm throwing you a surprise party. I was sitting at the counter in Sugarcube Corner when I realized that I hadn't seen you in a while. Then I thought that, with all this accused of murder thing going on, you must be feeling pretty down on yourself. So then I was all like 'We should throw him a surprise party! That'll cheer him up!' So then I came here as fast as I could to throw you a surprise party! Were you surprised?! Huh?! Were you?!"

Dragonshy ignored the question and explained, "That's not what I meant, Pinkie. I mean, how did you get here."

Pinkiepie smiled and said, very matter-of-factly, "Very Carefully! So did I cheer you up?"

Dragonshy remembered that he had promised himself not to question Pinkiepie's antics and just smiled and said, "You sure did, Pinkie."

At this he rubbed her head with his hoof and pulled back when she let out a long gasp.

She extended the gasp long enough for Dragonshy to see that there was nothing wrong and waited for her to explain herself, "You know who else has been feeling down lately?! Everypony! Do you know why?! Because you're gone! Can you come back with me so that we can throw everypony a huge surprise party that has a huge surprise?! The huge surprise would be you…"

Dragonshy took this as his chance to get her to guide him out and said, "That sounds great, Pinkie, but I don't know how to get out of here. Could you lead me out?"

Pinkiepie just smiled at him and said, "No can do!"

Dragonshy raised one eyebrow and asked, "Why not?"

Pinkiepie simply stated, "I don't know how."

Dragonshy hit his forehead with his hoof and let it slide down his face. He just could not comprehend what the way that Pinkiepie went about her business. He wondered what it must be like in her mind. He wondered if everything she did actually made sense to her. There was no time for further thought. Pinkiepie's tail twitched and she lunged herself at Dragonshy just in time. The ceiling above her exploded and the rubble fell onto where she had been standing. Three Changelings dropped down. They were all wearing a necklace that was a piece of jade with a string threaded through a hole in it.

Dragonshy got into fighting position but relaxed when he say that the three Changelings were not making any move to go after him. In fact, they each stood to attention and were saluting.

Dragonshy raised his eyebrow again and said, "Um… hello?"

He jumped back at the sudden response of all three of them in unison, "Knight Mare, Renegade, and Terror Tooth reporting for duty, Commander!"

Dragonshy did not know how to respond. He did not know why everypony was calling him commander. He wanted to know what he was commander of.

Dragonshy just said to them, "Ok let me just say, I have no idea what is going on. You should all know that I am suffering from amnesia and I can't remember anything before a couple of weeks ago. I am sorry that I have to ask, but who are you?"

The three soldiers looked at each other and the center one stepped forward. She was a magic-using Changeling and her features seemed smoother than the other Changelings that Dragonshy had seen. She was beautiful in a dark, dangerous sort of way.

She said to him very calmly, as if they had known each other for a long time, "Draco, I am Knight Mare. This is Renegade and this is Terror Tooth. These two are junior officers that served under you leadership for five years. I am a Commander as well and the two of us joined the military at the same time. Are you saying that you don't remember any of us at all?"

This was almost enough to bring a tear to his eye and he answered her, "I am sorry. This does not in any way mean that your company was not important to me, but I sustained some major head trauma so I can't remember anything about my life in the capital. I'm sorry."

Knight Mare smiled warmly and said, "Don't worry about it. We all made a pact to stay by each other's side no matter what. That's why we are here. As soon as we heard that you had been captured, we all raced back to the capital from the missions that we were on. We are ready to be under your command."

Dragonshy blinked in disbelief, "Really? Aren't I a fugitive here?"

Renegade, a very large Changeling with no wings, stepped forward and said, "Commander, you've saved each of our lives countless times. We each owe you our lives. We will do all that we can to get you out of here."

Terror Tooth, a small Changeling with bat wings and unusually long claws, chimed in, "Yeah and everythin' ya said to the Queen was right on the money. It's 'bout time we're getting' outa here!"

Dragonshy smiled and said, "Well I am truly lucky to have great comrades like you three. Thank you. However, I don't think that I am fully capable of leading you three. Seeing as I haven't the slightest clue as to where I am, I can't see how I can lead a rescue crew out of the Changeling Capital."

Knight Mare cleared her throat and said, "Well I'd be more than happy to take charge, Draco. I just need to know where we are headed. Do you have a place outside of the Capital where we will be safe? Or maybe somewhere that we can work on getting your memory back?"

Dragonshy considered it for a moment and said, "Yes. We can go to Ponyville. I have friends there that will help. Right, Pinkie…"

Dragonshy looked behind him to see that she was no longer behind him. He looked back at the exit and saw that it had been completely covered with ruble. Dragonshy decided to ignore it and figured that he would run into her later.

Knight Mare asked, "Is there something wrong, Draco?"

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "No it's nothing. We should probably get going. The queen had me under twenty-four hour surveillance. No doubt there will be more guards coming after me."

Knight Mare nodded and said, "Alright everypony, on my mark, follow me. Only break when I call for it. The commander's safety and escape is our number one concern. Ready? Mark!"

She teleported herself up and onto the ground next to the hole that they had made in the ceiling. Instantly, the other two follower her. Renegade easily used his muscular hind legs to launch himself the fifteen feet that were needed to get him out of the hole.

Terror Tooth yelled to Dragonshy, "Follow me, Commander. Me 'n you can fly!"

Dragonshy took off after Terror Tooth. Once they were all out of the room, Dragonshy got a good look at the Changeling Capital. The buildings and homes were black spires jutting from the ground. There was a very large spire far in the distance. Dragonshy assumed that one to be the palace that the Queen resided in. There was no sunlight in the sky. It took a moment for Dragonshy to realize that the entire city was underground. The only light came from street lights that had glowing crystals in them.

He did not get to long to take in everything since Knight Mare began a long chain of Teleports. She teleported several times in quick succession. Each one was about twenty yards in distance. Renegade was hot on her tail, running. He was very fast for somepony that was so big. Terror Tooth and Dragonshy followed by air. They were making great time and Dragonshy could see a doorway in the distance that had sunlight emanating from it. He figured that it was the way out since that was the direction that they were headed.

Dragonshy thought that they were home free until they turned a corner to find the entire street occupied by Changeling soldiers. At the head of the small army was the Queen herself.

Queen Chrysalis laughed and yelled to them, "I see that you met with you old friends, Commander Draco. I had sent them all on Missions when I captured you in hopes that you would be dead before they heard of your arrest. Oh well, the fun is over. I've put this off for far too long. If you want something done right, you must do it yourself! I'm going to kill you myself, Commander!"

Just as she finished, she sent a beam of magic in Dragonshy's direction. Immediately reacting, Knight Mare teleported herself to stand in between Dragonshy and the beam. The magic made contact with Knight Mare's horn and she seemed to be absorbing the magic from it and sending out small blasts of magic into the army of Changelings.

The small army was losing a lot of soldiers in a short amount of time but Queen Chrysalis did not care. She was trying to send out enough magic to overload Knight Mare. Knight Mare smiled triumphantly. She knew what Queen Chrysalis was trying to do and also knew that the Queen was not going to succeed. She was sending out bolts of energy using the energy that she was absorbing from the attack. The more power the Queen puts into the spell, the more bolts that Knight Mare will be able to shoot off.

Knight Mare just yelled, "Break!"

Like lightening, Renegade and Terror Tooth sped around her and charged straight into the mass of Changelings. Dragonshy just shrugged and flew after them. He did not want to be sitting around and watching his apparent friends fight for him. He wanted to help in any way that he could.


	34. Chapter Thirty Four-The Great Escape

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty Four-The Great Escape**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

There was a moment of shock when the small army of Changelings that were accompanying Queen Chrysalis first realized that only three Changelings were charging them head on. The quickly got over the feeling and returned the charge.

Renegade, actually being able to run much faster than the two flying Changelings were able to fly, was the first to make contact with one of the opposing Changelings. He had rammed his head into the Changeling's chest, sending it flying backwards and knocking down several more in its path. Renegade began to thrash about, lunging his legs this way and that. With every movement, he smashed into one or two Changelings and sending them sprawling in the other direction. The mass of Changelings soon came to understand it was going to take all of them to bring this monster-sized Changeling down. Renegade was easily able to fight all of them off. His skin was thick enough to keep him from feeling minor flesh wounds. He was being dog-piled by a few dozen Changelings. He would just shake them off and continue his mad rampage. Reinforcements arrived in the form of magic-using Changelings. This firing squad wasted no time in charging their spells and letting them loose on the rampant monster that was demolishing their ranks.

Renegade could definitely feel these bolts of magic as the penetrated his natural armor, so he yelled out, "Terror, get those guys off my back!"

Terror Tooth yelled back to him, stifling his laughter, "Ya mean the ones on yo back, o' the ones shootin' at ya?!"

He ended with a fit of laughter that almost caused him to fall out of the sky if he hadn't caught himself.

Renegade, annoyed with his comrade's tomfoolery in the midst of battle, yelled back with a slight irritation in his voice, "You know what I mean!"

Terror grew serious as he set his sights on the line of Changelings that were shooting at Renegade as he yelled behind him, "C'mon commander! You 'n me are gunna give 'em 'ell!"

Dragonshy took off after him. As Dragonshy came nose-to-nose with Terror, he noticed that Terror was flexing his claws in anticipation. Before they were able to reach the line of magic-using Changelings, Dragonshy was cut off by two stern-looking Changelings.

Terror did not notice that Dragonshy had been cut off. He was too excited to hear the screams of agony as he mowed down the enemy with his unnaturally sharp claws, feel the warmth of blood on his body, smell the adrenaline in the air, see the faces of his victims as they watched their friends die before him, and finally, taste the blood as he licked his claws clean. He loved it all. The thrill of battle and the pride that came with victory were both the only reasons that he needed in order to kill. His excitement and slight fetish got the better of him and he had totally forgotten that he was supposed to be protecting Dragonshy.

It did not take long for the firing squad to see the battle-ready Changeling launching himself at them. The each changed their position so that they would be able to target the new enemy. Terror saw their preparation and knew that, if he wanted to, he could fly down there and take a few of them out in his first dive. He was waiting for something though. Something that would make his next few dives go much better.

"Fire!"

That was it. That was what he was waiting for. Terror dove down, heading directly into the fray of magic bolts that had been launched at him. He expertly dodged each and every one of them. He bobbed, weaved, and spun so fast that he was like a black blur as he dodged the volley of bolts. Once threw the first wave, during the time period that the Changelings were charging for their next salvo, Terror picked up as much speed as possible. He sped right through the crowd of Changelings and came up with a Changeling skewered by his claws. This was the Changeling that he had aimed for. He did so because this Changeling was the one that had given the order for the first shot. That meant that he was their captain. He was their leader. He was the one that they were all looking up to for the confidence to fight. Terror knew all of this. That is why he singled him out and held him above the soldiers. Terror smiled, laughed maniacally, and spread his legs apart, tearing their captain to shreds. Straight after doing this, he dropped all the pieces of the body onto the spectators and flew straight up. Once he was satisfied with his height, he dropped back down. When he made it back to the now panic-stricken Changelings, he just spread out his claws and zigzagged through them until there were none left. He was able to do this because, with nopony to lead them, they were in mass hysteria and were not able to formulate a proper plan before they were cut down by Terror.

Terror began to fly back to Renegade and Knight Mare as he licked his claws clean of the blood, savoring every drop. Renegade was just finishing off the last of the Changelings when Terror finally made it to him.

Terror looked at Renegade, chuckled a bit, and asked, "Hey, Renny, ya gunna eat that?"

Renegade looked at where Terror was pointing, saw that it was some intestines in his back, shook them off, and said, "You're habits and fetishes disgust me, you know that right?"

Renegade almost puked to see that Terror had actually caught the intestines and was now wearing them around his neck as he responded, "Ya know what they say, one pony's trash is a 'nother pony's treasure."

The walked leisurely to Knight Mare. Knight Mare had been combatting Queen Chrysalis the entire time. When the battle first erupted, Knight Mare had been able to redirect the Queen's beam into her own army. Deciding that she was losing too many forces in this attack, the Queen had stopped and quickly scanned the battlefield for Dragonshy. Once she found him, she tried to send off another bolt, only to be met by Knight Mare's horn once again. The Queen was impressed with Knight Mare's fast teleportation ability. Queen Chrysalis decided that she should just teleport to her castle and figure out a new plan. She began the charge for her teleport spell, which only took a second, and was disappointed to find that she didn't go anywhere when she casted the spell. After closer inspection, she realized that she had been trapped within a magical barrier. Knight Mare, seeing that the teleportation had been stopped, brought the barrier down.

Once joined by her two comrades, Knight Mare said as they surrounded her, "Well maybe we don't even need to leave the capital. We can just end it all right here."

Renegade grunted in response and Terror let out an evil shriek in pleasure, but Queen Chrysalis smiled and said, "What good will that do if Commander Draco is not alive?"

At this statement, the three of them looked around, just noticing Dragonshy's absence. Queen Chrysalis took the small opportunity and teleported back to the palace. The three of them just looked at each other, nodded, and spread out to search the city for Dragonshy.

Dragonshy had been intercepted and promptly chased out of the battlefield. Once he was at a good distance away from the fight, his pursuers halted their chase. Dragonshy noticed this quickly and stopped as well.

After a moment of silence, one of the winged-Changeling spoke up, "Well, Commander, you think you can take both of us?"

The other one taunted as well, "Yeah, we were both Captains that were waiting in line to kill you."

The first one continued, "But you disappeared before we even got a chance."

His friend went on to make crying gestures and saying, "What's wrong? You scared of us?"

Dragonshy paid no heed to their words and just took the opportunity to catch his breath and ready himself for a fight. Too impatient to let Dragonshy make the first move, one of the opponents went into a barrel-roll and did some extravagant loops and turns before finally coming in for the attack. Dragonshy was slightly taken aback by this Captain's disregard for his own safety in his attack. Dragonshy could easily see a way of not only deflecting the force of the attack, but giving a counter-blow as well. When Dragonshy flew towards him to fight him, he noticed just in time that the other captain had tried to circle around and hit Dragonshy from behind. The spins and twirls were just distractions to get his eye off of the other one. Dragonshy quickly did a barrel-roll allowed the two captains to collide with each other. Once they did, Dragonshy rammed them at full speed, sending them spiraling to the surface. Dragonshy wiped some sweat. He had just barely gotten out of that one. He began to head in the direction that he came from.

Knight Mare saw Dragonshy and let out a very loud whistle. Upon hearing it, Dragonshy flew down to her. Apparently the other two had heard the whistle as well and came to meet up with them.

Knight Mare began to issue orders, "Good work. Now, Terror, keep high enough in the air to see everything in a five-block radius. Renegade, take up our…"

She was cut off as Renegade and Terror collapsed to the ground. She took a step forward to aide them but tripped and stumbled onto her haunches. She shook her head as it throbbed and hurt her to think.

Worried, Dragonshy asked, "What's wrong?!"

Knight Mare struggled to answer, "I…"

She was cut off again, but this time, by Pinkiepie waving a brief case in the air and yelling, "I found it everypony! I found my Penta-P!"

Everypony present just stared at her and she hid behind the brief case as she said, "Bad time?"

She just bounced away, without another word.

Knight Mare shook her head, deciding that it had been an illusion, and tried again, "I think that, before the battle, Queen Chrysalis cut our feed of energy from her. We're degenerating! Wait… how come you haven't felt the effects yet?"

Dragonshy rubbed the back of his neck as he answered her, "I'm getting my energy from another source."

Knight Mare's ears perked up and she said, "Really? Let me tap it through you! I will be able to save all of us!"

Dragonshy hesitated. He knew that he should be doing everything in his power to help these Changelings, since they saved him. However, he did not like the idea of somepony other than him receiving love energy from Rainbowdash and Fluttershy.

Deciding that he really owed these Changelings, he said, "Go ahead, quickly."

Knight Mare wasted no time in casting the spell. She formed a tendril of magic and allowed it to seep out of her horn until it reached Dragonshy's chest. Instantly, Dragonshy's aura came to life and the tendril of magic connected to it. It strengthened and get thicker. As it did, Knight Mare got up and connected it to Terror and Renegade. They too, got up and walked over.

Terror said, "I knew that ya found a way ta get energy. Good thing too."

Knight Mare nodded and said, "Indeed, we are all fortunate to have you at our side, Draco."

Dragonshy did not know how to respond. Fortunately, he did not have to.

Knight Mare began to bark orders again, "Alright, the hard part's over. Let's get out of here!"

The three of them made a mad dash for the exit. All of the troops that had been stationed at the gate had been in the group of Changelings that were destroyed by Renegade's onslaught. They were able to make it out without too much effort. They were not given a chance to celebrate. Knight Mare continued to teleport short distances away and forced the rest of them to follow her at a quick pace.

After a few hours of Traveling, they reached Appaloosa and headed toward the tavern.

On the way there, Dragonshy asked, "What are we doing here?"

Knight Mare said very calmly, "I don't expect that the Queen will be sending any more search parties after since, since she's got to save her troops for the big plan coming up. So I figured that we could afford to take a rest here. This is the only town between the capital and Ponyville, so we'll head straight from here in the morning."

Dragonshy smiled, he welcomed the idea of resting in a bed rather than the floor of his tomb. It was late at night, so nopony was walking outside. They made it to the outside of the tavern, where they stopped just outside the door. Knight Mare transformed into a black unicorn with a scarlet mane. Terror changed into a skinny, white pegasus that had a brown mane that was so long that it covered his eyes. Renegade turned into a very large stallion that was brown with a black mane. The four of them walked into the tavern, sat at the counter and ordered drinks.

Dragonshy began to slurp his cider when he overheard Knight Mare ordering their rooms for the night, "We'd like one full and two twins, please."

Dragonshy was puzzled by this. That meant that she had ordered one room with a full-sized mattress and two rooms with twin-sized mattresses.

Dragonshy tapped her on the shoulder and asked, "I'm sorry, Knight Mare but…"

He was cut off by Knight Mare's hoof gently on his lips.

He looked at her and she said as she gazed at him lovingly, "Please, Draco, I know you lost your memory but call me what you always call me… Kimmy."

Dragonshy gulped, cleared his throat, and tried again, "Um… Kimmy, I was just wondering where everypony was sleeping if you only ordered three rooms."

Knight Mare leaned in closer to him and said, "Draco, those two will have their own rooms and we will have ours."

Before Dragonshy had caught wind of what was going on, Knight Mare leaned in the rest of the way and gave Dragonshy a very long and passionate kiss.


	35. Chapter Thirty Five-Torture

**Everyone, I have some saddening news. I foresee this story ending, at least, in the next ten chapters or so. It may go over, but not by much. Do not fret though! For I have already brained stormed and came up with three ideas for my next story. I cannot decide which one I want to use, so I have made a poll and have given you the power to decide the next story. The poll will be left up until I finish this one. These upcoming stories will be a little different in the sense that it will be entirely fabricated with little to no references to the the story line of "Friendship is Magic". I expect great things and hope that you all enjoy the rest of this story. Also, I have finally learned how to add in the horizontal lines that separate scenes (took me long enough). So there is some good news. Enjoy chapter thirty five!**  
**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty Five-Torture**  
**By: TammoWoodsorel**

The kiss totally took Dragonshy by surprise. He didn't know what to do. All he did do was just sit there and let her finish. Eventually, Knight Mare pulled away and was slightly disappointed. She had wanted him to return the kiss at least. She figured that it could not be helped, since he hadn't remembered who she even was only hours ago.

During the kiss, Renegade and Terror Tooth snickered to each other and Renegade said, "Hey, are you two really going to get all lovey-dovey out here?"

Terror Tooth laughed uncontrollably before he made his bad joke, "Yeah! Ya already got yo room, so use it!"

He burst into a fit of laughter and fell off his seat. His friends just stared at him and shook his head. They found it remarkable that he found himself to be so funny.

Knight Mare turned her attention back to Dragonshy and said, "Come on, Draco. Let's go to the room so that we can get a little more comfortable."

Without another word, she jumped off her seat and began to walk toward the room. She stopped and looked behind her to make sure that Dragonshy was following. He was not. Dragonshy's mind was racing. He did not want to embarrass her, nor did he wish to make her mad at him. But, at the same time, he wanted to remain loyal to Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. When he was thinking, the thought occurred to him that he had probably been in a relationship with Knight Mare before he had lost his memory. In which case, he was actually cheating on her with Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. Dragonshy made up his mind. He was going to go to the room with her and talk to her about it. He would explain his current position, gauge her reaction, and decide on what to do from there. Dragonshy quickly threw back his head and inhaled the rest of his hard cider. He figured that he would need the extra courage and slight buzz. He hopped off his seat and followed her to the room that she had ordered.

Renegade sighed, chugged his ale, ordered another, and said, "He's a lucky guy. To have a mare as strong as her. I've got plenty of mares who want to be with me. But I'm a big pony, so I need a mare who can handle it. You know what I mean?"

Terror Tooth was gnawing on his own fore leg, a terrible habit that Renegade absolutely cannot stand, and spit it out to respond, "Well my friends, as havin' mares fallin' all over me... that would be a no. However, I can relate ta wantin' ta be picky about it. As fo' me, I need a mare that can keep me on edge, one that's full of surprises. I need one like that 'cause, if I were ta get bored, I wouldn't be able ta keep myself from killin' her and bathin' in her blood!"

Terror Tooth was drooling as he finished his sentence and didn't even seem to notice.

Renegade just said as he took a sip of his ale, "You're drooling again..."

Terror Tooth looked surprise when he was told that he was drooling. He quickly surveyed the room to make sure that nopony was watching. When he was sure that nopony was, he sank his teeth into his own fore leg and sucked up the blood that flowed from the wound. The wound closed up almost immediately after he had taken his teeth out of it. He had stopped drooling and proceeded to lick his fore leg clean. Renegade shook his head and looked away. Had it not been for the fact that he knew Terror Tooth better than anypony else, he would have been tempted to kill him out of annoyance.

Terror Tooth was a brilliant strategist, the best in the military. However, his blood lust was too much and he was never given a promotion on the grounds of mentally unstable. Renegade knew that Terror Tooth had been raised by a family of Changelings that believed his claws were that of demons. Convincing themselves that he was a god, they would sacrifice ponies to him and forced him to eat them. over time, Terror Tooth came to love the taste of blood so much that he could not get enough of it. Renegade had been a sacrifice as well. However, Terror Tooth saw the great size of him and made a deal. He would hide Renegade until he healed from the beating that led to his capture. Then, Renegade would bust them both out of the prison that he had been locked up in all his life. After Terror Tooth was free, he killed every Changeling that had kept him trapped int here and saved their bodies for food later. Terror Tooth was later arrested and forced into the military as a form of community service.

Renegade knew that Terror did not have any money on him and said to the bartender, "You guys got any club soda?"

The bartender looked a little surprised and said, "Well, stranger, we don't get too many ponies in here askin' fer it. I reckon that the only barrel we got has gotta be at least ten years old. Now, that fire-water be strong enough as it is. Stayin' that lon down in the cellar probably did a great deal of strengthenin' it. You sure you want it, partner?"

Renegade glanced at Terror Tooth, who was still licking his arm, and said, "Yeah, you'd might as well bring the whole barrel up here. My friend doesn't sleep much and can hold his alcohol."

The bartender just shrugged and made his way down to the cellar. he came up shortly, rolling a barrel in front of him. He carefully tapped it and poured a mug. The bartender slammed it onto the counter in front of Renegade, who just shook his head and gestured to Terror Tooth.

The Bartender nodded, slid the drink to Terror Tooth, and watched expectantly as Terror Tooth looked at it and asked, "Is this what I think it is, Renny?"

Renegade rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, the barrel's on me."

Terror Tooth gleefully gulped down the entire mug in one go and slammed the mug down for a refill.

The bartender was amazed as he poured another and commented while Terror Tooth began to drink his next glass, "Boy howdy! That friend of yours has some interestin' taste."

Renegade smiled as he watched the bartender fill Terror Tooth's glass again and said, "Yeah, keep those coming."

Renegade knew that club soda was Terror Tooth's favorite, since he says it tastes like blood. Renegade didn't think so, but he wasn't going to argue with him. It was a delicacy to Terror Tooth, since there were barely any bars that had club soda in stock.

* * *

Dragonshy and Knight Mare walked into the room. Dragonshy closed the door behind them and Knight Mare took the opportunity to change back into her Changeling form.

She stretched and said, "Ah, that's much better. I don't know how you stand being in that form for so long. Come on, why don't you change back, Draco?"

Dragonshy didn't do anything.

He stood there for a moment, took a deep breath, and said, "Listen... Kimmy. I don't know what my relationship with you was before I lost my memory, but it feels like I just met you and I don't feel comfortable doing this with somepony I just met."

The room was silent for a moment. Only a moment, but it felt like hours. Dragonshy did not know how she would react and was slightly scared to find out.

Knight Mare let out a depressed sigh and said, "Well... I guess that is to be expected. I don't want to force you to do anything that you are not comfortable with doing..." she paused for a moment and asked, "Will you at least stay with me for the night? I'm not saying that we need to do anything. I just want to be with you."

Dragonshy thought about it for a moment before he finally said, "I guess that's fine."

They both climbed into the bed. Dragonshy Closed his eyes and tried to relax, but he opened them when he felt Knight Mare snuggle up uncomfortably close to him. He didn't want to push her away, so he let it go and allowed himself to drift off into the best sleep that he's had in days. He told himself that anything was better than sleeping on the floor of his tomb.

* * *

Viñyl was sitting in her living room, chilling out on the large couch that ran along the wall of the room. She was bobbing her head to the beat of the extremely loud music that was playing, waiting for the stallions to finish making her something to eat, and smiling profusely as she listened to Captain Fear Complain in her head.

Captain Fear yelled, "Turn that annoyance off! I can't hear myself think!"

Viñyl laughed at his choice of words and thought to him, "Funny, 'cause I can hear ya think just fine."

Captain Fear did not attempt to mask his irritation as he said, "You know what I mean."

Viñyl just replied as if she couldn't care less, which she couldn't, "Why should I?"

Captain Fear began to yell again, "Because you've been going at it with those three bozos for past nine hours! I just want to get some rest! Which reminds me, when are you finally going to go get some sleep?! Apparently, I can't sleep unless you fall asleep!"

Viñyl laughed again in satisfaction and thought back to him, "I've trained myself ta be able ta run on four hours of sleep fo' one day, or eight hours of sleep if I wanna stay awake fo' two days. Don't be expectin' a break anytime soon, since I just woke up from a week-long nap. Oh yeah, 'n I'm gunna tell 'em that ya called 'em bozos."

Captain Fear panicked. Their treatment of her was already poor at best. Captain Fear was convinced that they had forgotten about his presence in her mind, since they never mentioned it during their 'activities'. At first, they had been going at it incredibly hard and every movement pained Captain Fear but seemed to grant Viñyl much pleasure. After a while they softened up and continued lovingly. Captain Fear figured that this meant that they were done punishing him and were just having fun with the mare that they loved. Their love and the expression of it made Captain Fear sick to his stomach. He did not want to imagine what the three stallions would do, when they resumed their 'activities', if they not only remembered that he was there but also knowing that he had insulted them.  
He gulped and said, "No no, that won't be necessary. I was merely..."

He stopped when he noticed that he could actually hear Viñyl's voice saying the words that he was saying. There was a sharp pain going through his head, but he ignored it at first. He looked around, taking great joy from actually having the ability to look around.  
Bruno peeked around the corner and asked, "Did you say something, Mistress?"

Captain Fear said, "Um... no, everything is fine."

Bruno frowned and began to walk toward him. Captain Fear cursed at himself. he could not believe that he had forgotten to use Viñyl's accent again. The other two stallions appeared and followed behind Bruno.  
As they were walking over, Captain Fear heard Viñyl's voice in his head, "Hey, what's goin' on 'ere. How'd ya get control? Why does my head hurt so much?"  
Captain Fear suddenly became aware of the excruciating pain that was in his head. He fell to the floor, holding his hooves to his head. The three stallions ran over to him, asking if he was ok.

Captain Fear responded to Viñyl out loud, "This is a code-red alert. Queen Chrysalis is doing this as a signal that I should return to the Capital immediately. I think that the subconscious urge to respond tot eh signal has allowed me to overcome you for the time being."  
Viñyl sounded scared when she asked another question, "What do we do?! How do we make it stop?!"

Captain Fear said, "The only way to make it stop is to head toward the Capital. Once we start the journey, it will stop. But if we go off course at all, it will start again."

The three stallions nodded to each other. Bruno, with the help of Hugo and Maxie, got Viñyl onto his back and he carried her out the door. Once outside, the pain stopped and control of the body was returned to Viñyl.  
When they stopped and Viñyl got off of Bruno's back, the pain came back and she asked, "Quick! Which way do we go?!"  
Captain Fear quickly responded, "Head south! Just go straight south until I say otherwise!"

Viñyl immediately began walking in the direction as instructed. The pain stopped again and she breathed a sigh of relief.

Captain Fear asked, "Do they really have to come with us?"

Viñyl smiled and said, "I like to have company on my trips."

Captain Fear was hurt and said, "Aren't I company enough?"

Viñyl laughed and said, "I meant physical company."

Captain Fear really wished he had killed himself when he had the chance. He did not know how much more of this life he could take. From the looks of it, nothing was going to change. He didn't want to think of any plans to get out of his situation because, if he did figure something out, Viñyl would just read his mind and take measures to make sure that it didn't work. he decided that if he saw an opportunity to escape, he would take it. but he was not going to plan on making the opportunity.


	36. Chapter Thirty Six-Sticky Situation

**Sorry guys, that there was no chapter yesterday. I answered all my PMs and responded to all the reviews and then a friend called me over to their house. Hope you all understand and aren't too sore that I missed a day. Anyway, enjoy chapter thirty-six!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty Six-Sticky Situation**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy woke up and took a moment to allow his eyes to adjust before he noticed the mare that was holding on to him in her sleep. The last thing that Dragonshy wanted to do was wake her up. She had looked so sad last night when he had told her that it felt like he was just meeting her. Dragonshy hated making anypony sad, so he just laid there and waited for her to wake up on her own.

Eventually, she did wake up and she said to him very softly, "Good morning, Draco."

She ended her greeting with a kiss on the nose. Dragonshy blushed and jumped out of bed.

He turned and saw that Knight Mare was a little surprised by the reaction so he said, "Oh... I um... was just going to go see if Renegade and Terror Tooth were awake yet. We should get going to Ponyville as soon as we can."

Knight Mare accepted the excuse and responded as she changed into her disguise, "Oh, well then I will meet you three at the train station."

She teleported from the room without another word. Dragonshy sighed in relief that she left without any argument. It's not that he didn't like her. Dragonshy actually felt very attracted to her. But he felt so guilty about Rainbowdash and Fluttershy that he was willing to refuse any advance from anypony.

Dragonshy left the room and began to head down the hallway to the rooms that had been designated to Renegade and Terror Tooth. Dragonshy knocked on Terror Tooth's door and there was no answer.

He knocked on Renegade's door and hear a response almost immediately, "I'll be right there!"

After a moment or two, Renegade was standing before Dragonshy, in his disguise, and he said, "Oh, Commander... Hey there."

Dragonshy could feel the immensity of the awkwardness that had developed with such few words.

He figured that he should be polite, "Good morning, Renegade. I hope you..."

He was cut off by Renegade bursting into laughter.

Dragonshy managed an awkward chuckle and asked, "Did I say something funny?"

Renegade wiped a tear from his eye as his laughing subsided and said, "No, sir. It's just so weird to see you like this."

Dragonshy was intrigued by this statement and asked, "How would you expect me to act?"

Renegade's response came after a couple of chuckles, "Well you're my commanding officer. If you wanted me to wake up, then you would have barged in and yelled at me until I stood in front of you at attention. And then there was the 'good morning' thing," he paused as he laughed a little more and then continued, "I'm not going to lie to you. When you were the Commander, you were known for being harsh and strict. I think that I might be the first changeling to hear you say good morning."

Dragonshy was slightly taken aback by this. He had wanted to know a little bit more about himself before he had lost his memory, but he never expected that he was a stern military commander. He was starting to question whether or not he actually wanted his memory back.

Renegade slapped Dragonshy on the back and said, "He was cruel and demanding, but I loved the old Commander Draco like a father. You're different now, not that different is necessarily bad. There are a few things that you've got now that I wish you had when you were a commander. But I can't help but hope that we find some way of getting your memory back. I want the old, loyal, dependable, strong, intelligent, quizzical Changeling that i knew back then. By the way, what did you wake me up for?"

Dragonshy blinked, finally remembering why he had been there in the first place, and said, "Oh, Knight Mare is waiting for us at the train station right now. We just need to get Terror Tooth and we'll be on our way to Ponyville."

Renegade said, Well then let's go get him."

Dragonshy was confused and stated, "Renegade, his room is this way."

Renegade gave a short laugh and said, "You're not going to find him in his room, sir. Whenever Terror Tooth spends the night somewhere that has the right drinks, your best bet is to check the bar and look for a passed out pegasus with a mane that's way too long."

The two made their way to the bar and, sure enough, Terror Tooth was passed out on top of the counter.

The bartender took notice of them and said, "We don't usually let ponies sleep on this here counter. But, I figure he earned the right."

Renegade began to walk over as he asked, "Oh yeah? How'd he do that?"

The bartender smiled and said, "Well, not only did he drain the whole dang barrel of club soda, but he also dun went and started spoutin' poetry. Or, at least that's what he dun called it. I thought it was a hoot. Well, the topics were always killin' this or shreddin' that. He was so descriptive with dem scenes that I could almost see it in front of me. I mean, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that he actually dun went and did this stuff."

Renegade slapped his friend on the back and shook him awake as he said, "Come on man, you'd better wake up or the Commander will have your hide."

Instantly, Terror Tooth woke up and jumped to attention from the stool. Dragonshy just stared at him for a moment as Terror Tooth remembered that Dragonshy didn't know what was going on.

He turned to talk to Renegade, but the bartender said, "Well I'll be a timber wolf's uncle, I hadn't realized that ya'll was military. drinks is suppose to be on the house to ya."

Renegade just waved the comment off and said, "Don't worry about it. We would have insisted anyway."

The bartender said as he walked toward the back door that was behind the counter, "Well that's mighty kind of ya, partner. I'd better go and check on the boys out back."

After he left, Terror Tooth looked at a smiling Renegade and said, "I didn't..."

Renegade playfully ruffled his mane and said, "You did, my friend."

Terror Tooth began to pout as the three of them left the tavern, "I hate poetry, Why do I always gotta do poetry when I'm drunk when I can't stand the stuff when I'm sober? Just doesn't make sense if ya ask me."

Renegade smiled and said teasingly, "Well that certainly is strange. I mean, it's almost like you have a hidden intelligence or something."

Terror Tooth just stayed silent. He didn't like sounding smart. Terror Tooth was a master strategist. He always did his best to appear dim-witted, so that he always had the advantage in a fight. He knew that being underestimated was one of the best advantages that a pony could have. However, when he gets drunk, he can't control himself and he starts acting as smart as he is. He didn't need to hide it in front of Renegade or Draco, since they already knew that he was a closet egg-head.

They got to the train station after a short walk. Appaloosa was such a small village that nothing was really that far away. When they found Knight Mare, she was arguing with a train conductor. When she noticed them, she ended her conversation and walked over to them.

Obviously annoyed, she said, "Well there are no trains leaving the station right now. Apparently there have been some weird stuff happening lately. Tracks are coming to life and acting as snakes, train engines are overloading and speeding down the tracks uncontrollably, and there are some weird weather conditions in Ponyville that everypony is too scared to go anywhere near."

Dragonshy asked, "Well then how do we get to Ponyville?"

Knight Mare looked at him and said, "Well, if we triple-time it, we can make it there by sundown. You guys up for it?"

Terror Tooth knew that it was a rhetorical question, but he objected anyway, "Well, I've got dis terrible hangover 'n..."

Knight Mare interrupted him, "Good, then let's get a move on."

Without another word, she resumed her quick teleports. Dragonshy had to fly as fast as he could in order to keep up with her. He was happy to finally be headed back to Ponyville after being imprisoned for so long.

* * *

Viñyl was all sticky and Captain Fear was very upset about it.

He started to reprimand her, "I told you that you shouldn't have been fooling around with those three. We needed to stay on the move."

Viñyl just groaned and said, "You still on that? I don't see what the big deal is. So I got a lil' sticky, it's yo fault that they all dumped their load on me."

Captain Fear was furious about the accusation and said, "How is it my fault."

She said with a smile, "This code red is fo' you, not me."

Captain Fear responded quickly, "That's why I said that we should keep moving, not stop and give in to your desires. I don't know how you even like the taste of that stuff... Are you licking it off your fur?!"

Viñyl had indeed been licking her fore leg but stopped to answer, "What? Don't want it goin' ta waste. They put a lot of effort into this."

Captain Fear was convinced that he would have vomited if he had control of the body, but he said, "Stop licking it! I can taste it too and it's disgusting! And what do you mean 'put in a lot of effort' they just stood there and you did all the work."

Viñyl enjoyed causing Captain Fear anguish, so she continued to lick herself clean as she said, "How can ya not like it. I just can't get enough of it."

Captain Fear sighed and said, "It's not so much how it tastes. It's the thing that it comes from that grosses me out."

Viñyl asked, "Why?"

Captain Fear responded as if she should already know, "It's a cloud! And a cotton candy cloud at that. That's just not natural. I'm sure that whatever magic is making those clouds rain chocolate milk is in the chocolate milk and you're drinking it."

Viñyl just shrugged, kept on licking the chocolate milk off her fur and said, "Well chocolate is chocolate no matter where it comes from. 'N those three did put in effort. All I did was hold the cloud there with my magic, their the ones that had ta try 'n carry the 'eavy buckets full of chocolate milk. It's no wonder why they dropped it on me by mistake."

Captain Fear tried to control his anger and chose his next words carefully, "Alright well, there are plenty of cotton candy clouds out and about. Just fill the buckets as we pass. If we stop, we'll get the headache again. Are you even worried about why there are cotton candy clouds raining chocolate milk?"

Viñyl responded as if it had been a silly question, "Na', why would I? Life gives ya chocolate milk, ya drink it. Ya don't ask questions."

They continued on in silence and, with the help of her three stallions, she was eventually all clean. Captain Fear hated the feeling of getting licked clean by her servants, but bit his tongue. He decided that he was no longer going to give her the satisfaction of knowing he was in pain.

Viñyl giggled and said, "Ya don't have ta say nothin'. I can hear yo thoughts 'n get all the satisfaction I need."

Captain Fear was about to say something in response but stopped when he and Viñyl noticed something coming towards them from far away. It did not take long for the incoming objects to meet up with the four ponies.

Knight Mare stopped when she made it to them, as did everypony else, and Dragonshy stepped forward to ask, "Viñyl? Is that you?"

Viñyl began to say, "Dragon! I'm so glad ta..."

She fell to the floor, mid-sentence.

Dragonshy looked up at the stallions that had been standing behind her and asked, "What's going on? What's wrong with her?"

Hugo looked at Viñyl to get her approval. She nodded to him and he told Dragonshy and his companions everything that he knew about what was going on with Viñyl.

When he finished, Knight Mare stepped forward and said, "I have an idea..."

He horn glowed and she shot a bolt of magic at Viñyl. When it hit her, Viñyl's aura came to life. Knight Mare instantly saw what she was looking for. There was a beam of energy coming off of her aura and leading to the Changeling Capital. Knight Mare charged her horn again and sliced at the beam. It broke and disappeared. Then, Knight Mare connected Viñyl's aura to her own. Viñyl could feel the head ache disappear as soon as Knight Mare had done this.

Knight Mare, looking very pleased to have figured out a solution, said, "Well that worked. The Queen was fluxing her beam of energy in order to make the code red alert. She sends in a huge amount of energy and then a little. That's what causes the headache. All I had to do was cut you off from her energy and connect you to mine, which I am getting from Draco."

Viñyl began to ask, "Who's Dr..."

Before she could finish, all of them collapsed at once. Knight Mare, Renegade, Terror Tooth, Dragonshy, and Viñyl were all on the floor. They were not there because of pain necessarily. They did not have the energy to stand.

Dragonshy could barely get out, "What's happening now?"

Knight Mare answered slowly so that she could say all she wanted, "This is deterioration. The energy source that you had is failing. Something must have happened."

At this Dragonshy became worried. He was not worried about his own safety. He was worried that something was happening to Fluttershy and Rainbowdash. Something was making them lose their connection with their elements of harmony. Dragonshy laid there and prayed to Celestia that it was not death that broke the connection.


	37. Chapter Thirty Seven-Battle Ready

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty Seven-Battle Ready**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

All of the Changelings were on the ground, yelling and groaning in agony. They were starving to death at a very rapid pace.

Knight Mare looked up and saw three stallions just standing there frozen solid in fear, and said, "You three! Go find help! We need food and lots of it."

The three stallions split up and ran in three different directions. They were going to either find food or somepony who had food.

Viñyl turned over and said, "But I thought that we couldn't eat food."

Knight Mare shook her head painfully and said, "No, we can. It's just that we have to eat a lot of it in order for it to do anything for us."

After some time, Hugo happened upon a road. To his luck, there was a very expensive-looking carriage coming down the road. Hugo stood in the middle of the road and waved a fore leg in the air. The driver, a white unicorn with a dark-blue mane, had the stallions that were pulling the carriage stop.

A mare's voice was heard from inside the carriage, "Is there something wrong out there?"

The unicorn yelled back, "Nothing yet, just stay in there for a minute," turning to face the out of breathe stallion before him, the unicorn asked, "I'm sure there is a very good reason that your blocking the road."

Hugo took a deep breath and said, "Please, sir, I have a group of friends that are about a mile in that direction that are starving to death. Is there any way that you can help them?"

The unicorn seemed to be genuinely concerned for the ponies that he had never met as he said, "Well I don't have any food, but my fiance can keep them alive until these ponies can go back to town and get some food."

Hugo brightened up as he saw the unicorn quickly unstrap the stallions that had been pulling his carriage, giving them a bag of money, and then knocking on the door to the carriage after the two stallion left to get food.

A pink unicorn with a rainbow mane poked her head out and listened to the white unicorn say, "Sweety, it seems as though there are some ponies in trouble and they need your help."

The pink unicorn glanced over at Hugo and, seeing just how incredibly worried he was, said, "Alright, just show us the way. I will do all that I can."

The pink unicorn stepped out of the carriage and Hugo was astonished to see that she was an alicorn.

Hugo immediately bowed and said, "Oh pardon me for interrupting your travels, Princess..."

There was a pause since Hugo didn't actually know who she was and the alicorn filled him in, "Cadance, just Cadance is fine. Now where are your friends?"

Hugo stood up and said, "Yes, they're this way. Follow me please."

He took off in the direction that he came from. Cadance followed him immediately but the white unicorn stopped to draw an arrow into the dirt so that the stallions knew which way to do when they got back. Once he had done that, he took off after them. He was obviously well-trained since he was able to catch up with them very quickly.

As they were running, Hugo looked to the white unicorn and asked, "I'm sorry, sir, I didn't get your name."

The white unicorn looked at him and said, "Shining Armor, and you are?"

Hugo just stated his name, "Hugo."

They continued running at top speed to save his friends.

* * *

Back at the Changeling Capital, Queen Chrysalis was trying to figure out a way of finding Draco. Without her being tied to him anymore, she had no was of tracking them. The same went for his companions. She had issued a red alert which had assembled every Changeling in the military in the palace. They all stood to attention and waited for the Queen's command. Queen Chrysalis was sitting in her throne with her eyes closed. It had been a few hours since everypony had gathered, there were a few that were late in getting there but that was to be expected. Eventually, she felt something. She felt herself lose a connection with Captain Fear. The only way a Changeling could sever the bond was through powerful magic that was only possessed by a few select Changelings and death.

Queen Chrysalis thought about it for a minute. Captain Fear was the fifth best fighter in the military. The only Changelings that were better than him were the ones that were with Dragonshy. So, no matter what the reason for losing the connection was, it meant that he was with them. Queen Chrysalis let out a loud whistle through her teeth. This was the signal for all the magic-using Changelings to pour their energy through her. What this did was allow for a faster start up or a larger teleport. Queen Chrysalis was going for the strength. She was planning on teleporting every Changeling soldier to Dragonshy. Feeling the energy beginning to well up inside her, the Queen began to concentrate on the last known location of Captain Fear.

All the soldiers saw the preparations and readied themselves for battle.

**Sorry guys, i know that this chapter is A LOT shorter than all my other chapters, but I am really busy tonight and probably won't be going to sleep tonight. I felt bad for leaving you guys hanging so often, so I decided to post something. Even if this was it. Sorry again, I hope you all understand.**


	38. Chapter Thirty Eight-Introductions

**A Great Change: Chapter Thirty Eight-Introductions**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

After a few minutes of running as fast as their legs could carry them, Shining Armor, Princess Cadence, and Hugo all arrived at the scene of torment. Princess Cadance gasped, horrified at the sight of five ponies on the verge of starving to death.

Shining Armor went to comfort his fiance saying, "Hey, don't worry. We're here now and we can help them. Just do your best to keep them alive until our servants get back, got it?"

Princess Cadance nodded, took a deep breath while outstretching her hoof in front of her, and said, "Alright, can you help me?"

Shining Armor smiled and said, "Of course."

After saying this, Shining Armor sent a beam of blue magic that connected to Princess Candace's horn. She closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the power build up in side of her. She possessed the magic of love. She knew that love is a feeling that kept a pony that was near-death from dying. Love is a powerful magic that can change the tide of life and war. Princess Cadance knew this and has spent her entire life honing her skill. She knew that if she could instill the magic of love in these ponies, then they might have the willpower to fight their hunger and live for just a little longer. She opened her eyes, stooped down slightly to take am, and sent a pink aura from her horn that completely surrounded the five ponies that were on the ground.

She smiled when she saw them stop trembling. She let the magic flow from her horn and was surprised to see that the ponies were actually looking better. She hadn't been aware that her magic was able to heal ponies. While she was surprised, Princess Cadance did not stop. She wanted to help them in any way that she could, so she kept on letting the love flow to them. It did not take long for them to feel strong enough to stand up. They looked to the pony that saved them and, realizing that it was an alicorn, bowed. Bruno and Maxie got back at this point, returned to the group, and bowed as well.

Princess Cadance was rather flustered, she did not like being treated in such a manner, "You can stand up, I don't mind."

Knight Mare was the one to respond, "Your majesty, allow me to thank you for your help."

Princess Cadance laughed awkwardly and said, "You can just call me Cadance and it was no trouble at all, really."

Shining armor, however, was not in such good spirits, "Alright hold it. I want you three stallions behind me. You five get in a line in front of me, now."

Surprised, everypony did as they were told.

Once they all did as instructed, Shining Armor said very seriously, "You know, Princess Cadance has the magic of Love, not the magic of healing. The only ponies I know of that starve to death a rapid rate and are healed with Love are Changelings and Changelings are forbidden to be seen in Equestria unless given special permission by Princess Celestia herself. So which one of you wants to fill me in as to why you are taking the huge risk of coming here when you could receive life in prison for it?"

Just as he asked this, there was a blinding flash of light. Once they were able to see again, they saw that they were completely surrounded by an entire army of Changelings.

Looking around, Shining Armor saw Queen Chrysalis and yelled, "Ambush!"

Queen Chrysalis saw Shining Armor and immediately recognized him as well as Princess Cadance. A smile beamed across her face and she ordered a charge. However, the army did not make it two steps before they were met with a magic wall. In the short time that Shining Armor had noticed the ambush, he had placed a barrier dome that completely sealed them away from the terrifying army on the other side of the see-through wall.

Shining Armor turned back to the line of Changelings and yelled, "So that was your plan all along?! Use our good nature to lure us out here and then ambush us?"

Knight Mare was panicking and tried to reassure Shining Armor, "No, sir, I swear. We had no knowledge of this ambush and it is probably meant for us."

Banging was heard outside the barrier as Changelings began ramming into it in an attempt to break it and Shining Armor said, "Go on. Tell me everything. Convince me that I can trust you."

Knight Mare said, "Long story short, our friend here is Commander Draco of the Changeling Military. Queen Chrysalis has come up with a plan of taking over Canterlot and he went to the Queen and questioned her methods. He was branded a traitor and chased out of the Changeling Capital. His plan was to fly straight to Canterlot and warn them of the plot, but he was intercepted, arrested, and thrown in jail with a life sentence. Us three, being very good friends of his, agreed with his ideals and thought it wrong for him to be locked up. We busted him out of prison and were on our way to Ponyville to meet with some friends that he made that he said would be able to get him an audience with the Princess for our 'special permission'. We had been receiving our energy from an alternate source since Queen Chrysalis cut us off from her supply. On our way to Ponyville, the source failed and we were stranded here until you came along. We knew that Queen Chrysalis was after us and was trying to capture us, but we were not trying to get you caught up in all this."

Shining Armor turned to Viñyl and asked, "What about this one?"

Knight Mare said, "That is Captain Fear. He was the one that was out trying to kill Draco. He took control of a pony and for some reason that pony ended up taking over his body. His mind is till in there but she is able to suppress it using the power of her own brain. Thinking about it, that was probably hos Queen Chrysalis found us. Just before you showed up, I had manually cut her off from Queen Chrysalis' supply of energy and hooked her up to ours before it failed. Queen Chrysalis probably was able to feel that and guess that we were here too. We are sorry to have gotten you into this predicament."

Shining Armor had his eyes closed, taking it all in.

He opened them and said, "Ok, I believe you. There's one problem though. The law is that we must turn over all Changeling fugitives to their Queen for punishment. If you're all in trouble with your law, then I have to turn you over."

Knight Mare thought for a moment and said, "Not if you arrest us," at Shining Armor's questioning glance, she explained, "If you arrest us then you are allowed to take us into holding at Canterlot before you are required to turn us over. That would stall for long enough for us to get the permission that we need."

Shining Armor looked very seriously at her and asked, "What makes you so sure that you will be approved?"

Knight Mare returned his stare and said, "Because, we hold vital information to the survival of the the citizens of Canterlot."

Shining Armor nodded and said, "I'm assuming you're the commanding officer?"

He was talking to Dragonshy.

Knight Mare stepped in and said, "He was the commanding officer, unfortunately he suffered a major head injury during his attempted escape and lost his memory. Because of that, I have taken charge of this group."

Shining Armor was a little annoyed by her and asked, "Is there a reason that you're the only one doing the talking?"

Knight Mare wasted no time in explaining herself, "Draco is not mentally equipped to answer all your questions or properly explain the situation, no offence. That big guy there does not like talking. That skinny guy there likes to talk a little too much and has an accent that is a little difficult to grasp. She doesn't know what is going on and would have to waste valuable time to ask the voice in her head to explain it to her and her to you."

Shining Armor rubbed his head. To be receiving all this information at once and having to keep the barrier up was starting to take its toll.

He looked to her and said, "Well do you mind if I take charge, Miss..."

Knight Mare responded as she stood to attention and the others follow suit, "Knight Mare, sir, and we are ready and willing."

Viñyl, Bruno, Hugo, and Maxie were not standing to attention at first. But when they saw that everypony else was, they did the same.

Shining Armor nodded and said, "Quickly, I need the strengths and limitations of everypony here."

Knight Mare stepped forward and said, "Second Commander Knight Mare, class 'A' magic but class 'C' hoof to hoof fighter, Sir!"

Renegade stepped forward and said, "Second Lieutenant Renegade, class 'A' fighter and charger and a class 'F' ranged, Sir!"

Terror Tooth stepped forward and said, "Probational Lieutenant Terror Tooth, class 'A' strategist, dog-fighter, flier, hoof to hoof fighter, and siege specialist, Sir!"

Dragonshy stepped forward and said, "Dragonshy, Sir, my military ranking is unknown to me."

Viñyl stepped forward and said, "Viñyl Scratch, betta' known as DJ-Pon3. Absolutely no military trainin', Sir."

Bruno, Hugo, and Maxie stood forward at the same time and each said their name before Maxie said, "Ex-sailors for the 'Gold Shark'. We we discharged three years ago but have not lightened up on our physical exercises, Sir."

Shining Armor turned to Knight Mare and said, "I'm guessing that you five are going to need a constant source of energy to stay in this fight."

Knight Mare nodded and Shining Armor began to issue orders, "Alright, this barrier is not going to last much longer. I need everypony ready. We're going to fight our way back the way that we came. After the barrier goes down, I'm going to send out a distress signal. That's going to call a platoon of Royal Guards that are on standby to us. We just have to meet up with them and they will be able to hold off the Changelings while get away. Renegade, I need you to lead the charge with me, Bruno, Hugo, and Maxie right behind you. We'll be clearing a path in the crowd for Cadance, Viñyl, and Dragonshy to pass through. Terror Tooth, you support us and keep any ranged attackers at bay. Knight Mare, take up the rear and keep up a barrier behind us to assure that we are not his with anything from behind. Cadance, I need you to to keep a connection with all the Changelings. I am sorry to ask so much of you but it is important that you focus on them and make sure that they are all supplied sufficiently. Viñyl and Dragonshy, you two are to be a last line of defense. Call me a sap but if anypony makes it out of this it needs to be Cadance. Protect her at all costs. Everypony Ready?!"

They did not have time to answer. Just as he was finishing his orders, the barrier came down. There was a moment during which nopony moved a muscle.

Breaking the silence were the voices of Queen Chrysalis and Shining Armor yelling at the top of their lungs, "Charge!"


	39. Chapter Thirty Nine-The Charge

**A great Change: Chapter Thirty Nine-The Charge**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

As he yelled charge, Shining Armor charged his magic. After a moment, he launched a magic missile into the air. After flying to a sufficient height, it exploded and sent out waves of blue magic in all directions. It was very bright and would have gotten everypony's attention within a five-mile radius.

The small group of ponies, that was the target of the Changeling onslaught, got into formation as fast as they could. Renegade was first to make contact with the edge of the ever-shrinking circle, as planned. Renegade shed his disguise and returned to his real form, a large Changeling. The he focused and used his natural ability to transform. He concentrated in order to send all of his morphing powers through his body and allowed it to seep into his blood stream. As he did this, her grew bigger and bigger until he was the size of a Minotaur. He had done all this within a couple seconds of making contact. Renegade allowed his shoulder to drop and went into a charging stance. He led the escape party into the mass of Changelings and did a very good job of clearing the way. He was big enough to allow the others to have enough room to run behind him and he was knocking into the Changeling soldiers so hard that they flew back far enough to send the Changeling that they ran into flying backwards several feet. What this did, was allow them enough time to run through before another group closed the gap and separated them. It was a tough crowd to just be charging through, though. Changelings have teeth and nails that are both razor sharp. If it were not for Renegades unusually tough skin, he would have died of blood loss at the very beginning of the fight. Sometimes, there was the occasional Changeling that would latch onto him and cling to him whilst attempting to climb over him and get to the ponies that were behind him. Renegade decided that he would leave them to fend them off themselves. He knew that if he wasn't paying attention to his direction then he was going to regret it somehow. So he focused on the task at hand and did the best that he could to make sure he didn't miss anypony.

The stallions had their hooves full. Once in a while, when Renegade was running, Changelings were climbing over him and dropping down in front of them. At first, they had found it very difficult to fight the Changelings off and stay moving at a quick pace to keep up with Renegade. At first, they were forced to fight these Changelings at the same time as making sure the Changelings did not get any further down the line. However, it did not take long for them to work out a system of getting them out fast. First, Hugo would put on a short burst of speed to charge the Changeling as soon as it jumps off of Renegade's back. Then, Maxie would be on standby to kick the Changeling as it was falling and accelerating it into Bruno. Bruno was running a little bit to the side so that he was able to kick the Changeling sideways and back into the ranks of it's army. This system worked so well because there were just enough Changelings coming through that they were able to keep a steady pace going.

Shining Armor was impressed with both Renegade's powers and the stallion's fighting ability. He did not have too much time (if any) to admire it though. He needed to do his part, which was keeping the pegasi off of Renegade's back. While it was tiring, his darted from side to side as he fired magic polts into the sky. Each bolt hit its mark and knocked the pegasus right out of the sky. Shining Armor knew that it was best to make the Changelings that were closest his targets. With this strategy he was able to keep them off of Renegade with a reasonable amount of space in case anything goes wrong. Every once in a while, he would glance back at Princess Cadance to make sure that everything was ok. He was very worried about his soon-to-be wife and wanted to make sure that she was ok throughout this entire fight. In fact, he told himself to make sure that she does not get even a single scratch from this fight. Each time he did this, it encouraged him further to keep the pegasi off of them. He fired his magic so fast and accurate that the pegasi were beginning to become more cautious about approaching the group.

Dragonshy and Viñyl were finding their job to be very easy. They had watched Renegade become bigger using his transformation abilities. They both tried it. Viñyl was the first to get it a little bit right. She had been able to grow one of her fore legs to the size of Princess Cadance's body and found that she was able to lift her massive appendage very easily.

Dragonshy saw this and yelled to her, "How did you do that?"

Viñyl replied, yelling as well, "Ya jus' gotta' focus on yo arm 'n feel yo energy flow trough you 'n ta yo leg."

Dragonshy nodded and tried it for himself. After a few seconds of trying, he felt it change. He looked at he new leg and was astonished that he was actually able to lift it. At closer inspection the leg had a claw at the end of it. He also noticed that there was a proper elbow on it as well. He soon realized that it was, in fact, the arm of a Dragon. Viñyl and Dragonshy held their over-grown arms to their side and blocked Changelings from being able to get to them. Since they were near the back of the line. They were stuck at the point where the crowd closes up again. They had just barely learned their new skill in time to stop themselves from getting lost. No Changelings were able to get through their defenses unless they tried to climb it. When Dragonshy or Viñyl felt that there was a Changeling trying to climbing them, they would slam the back of their leg onto the ground to knock the Changeling off. Using this method, they were able to keep up with the rest of the group as well as making sure that Princess Cadance was well-protected.

Princess Cadance was struggling. She had to focus on where she was going as well as making sure to send a constant supply of energy to the Changelings that were in the group. Eventually, the Changelings that were attacking realized what she was doing and tried to tap into her aura while she was distracted. She was unable to do anything more than she was already doing. She had to depend on Knight Mare to help her.

Knight Mare knew what the Changelings were up to and did her best to make sure that it did not happen. Knight Mare had put up a barrier to protect the entire back of the force. Then, she improved the barrier to automatically shoot at Changelings that got to close to Princess Cadance. It took all her concentration to do it, and she found that it was beginning to get harder to walk straight. She needed to take a break. Fighting with magic was much more different than fighting hoof-to-hoof. When somepony was tired in close-combat, they can just take a breather real quick and go back in. Once magic-users run out of energy for a spell, they cannot do anything until their energy is back and they have to lie down in order to receive the energy to go on. That means that, if they didn't make it out of this fight and fast, then she was going to become very useless really fast.

Terror Tooth was having the best time of his life. He had been given permission to kill at will, which is something that he normally doesn't have the rite to. He flew at amazing speeds and straight through them. He was going so fast that he was able to pass through four or five at once. He targeted the Changelings that were catching up and killed randomly when he say that everypony was doing something better than what she was doing.

The formation was working and it seemed to be working very well as they made there way to the end of the army.

* * *

Queen Chrysalis was panicking slightly. her targets were getting away. She had not expected them to be able to get away from an entire army. She was dumbfounded that even their entire military force was not able to bring down Commander Draco. She quickly made a decision. She was going to target the one that would make her plan go much more smoothly.

She barked out orders to two platoons that were on standby, "Alright, I need the two of you to get as much pressure as you can on those two Changelings that are on either side of Princess Cadance. Relay those orders to anypony that can hear you.."

After she had finished her rant, the two Changelings took their platoons and took off to let everypony know that they were to make sure that all the attempts are made on the two Changelings that were on either side of the Princess.

Dragonshy and Viñyl were having a lot of trouble now. There were Changelings hanging off of his giant arm. He tried shaking it off, but it just refused to let go. When they finally did let go, there was always another one to take its place. All of their attention was focused on getting the Changelings to step off of them. Knight Mare had her magic working over-time, she had to focus and channel basically all of the energy that she was receiving from Princess Cadance into strengthening her barrier and allowing it to attack more Changelings at once. But even this was not enough to keep the Changelings off of her friends.

* * *

Queen Chrysalis had the magic-users around her send their beams of magic to her so that she could charge up a powerful teleport spell quickly. Soon, she let out a yell as she sent a huge bolt of magic across the battlefield. It only took a moment for it to travel from Her horn, over the field, and into Princess Cadance. Once it made contact with her, she was teleported to a room where the walls were lined with crystals. After a few seconds, she was joined by Queen Chrysalis. Queen Chrysalis sent out a tendril of magic that quickly surrounded Cadance and hardened to become a cocoon. Once she had her captured, Queen Chrysalis began to absorb the features of Princess Cadance. After she finished absorbing it and transforming, she let the real Princess Cadance out of the cocoon.

Princess Cadance looked at the Queen and said, "Oh no..."

The queen smiled and said, "Yes, that's right. I'm you now and I'm going to take over your big day. With Shining Armor as a husband, I will have plenty of energy to give to my Changelings. This is much better than my plan, which was to crash the wedding and kidnap the two of you. Now I don't have to go through all that work. These here are the old crystal mines that are below Canterlot. I use these caverns as dungeon cells for my convicts. If you dig a lot, you may be lucky enough to find one of them. The best part about these crystals is that they only allow my magic to pass through it. So only I am able to teleport in and out of it. There no way for you escape and I will be living it up as a princess."

* * *

With that, she left Princess Cadance to wallow in self pity. She returned tot he battle field, teleported to where Princess Cadance had been and did her best to meld with them. Once she was in place, she sent a command to her officers to back off. The army dispersed and began to make their way back to the Capital. The group that had been trying to escape did not even notice the oddity of the situation. They had been so scared of getting caught that they hadn't noticed any of it. Queen Chrysalis smiled to herself. She was going to be able to get into the wedding without a problem.


	40. Chapter Forty-JailLove Birds

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty-Jail/Love Birds**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Shining Armor was a little confused as to why the Changelings abruptly halted their onslaught. He was not complaining but he was curious as to know why. They met up with the line of Royal Guards, who went into battle-position in preparation for a fight. Shining Armor just signaled for them to follow him. Shrugging to each other, they set off to follow the group that they were supposed to have saved from an army of Changelings.

When they finally got back to their carriage, Shining Armor turned to the Royal Guards and said, "I want a patrol going up and down this road until we make it back to Canterlot. Understand?"

The Royal Guard that he had been addressing said as he marched off to follow his orders, "Yes sir!"

Shining Armor turned to the group he had just led through battle, "I'm very impressed with all your performances. Unfortunately I am required to place you all under arrest. I'll trust that I have your cooperation and I won't tie you up. Just follow the carriage."

Knight Mare spoke up, "Thank you for all your help. You bought us an extra day to live."

Shining Armor did his best to ignore the obvious attempt to make him feel guilty and said, "I'm sorry, but as great as you ponies are, I cannot help you."

Knight Mare sighed and they all got together behind the carriage. With Shining Armor walking behind them, they all began to head for Canterlot. Shining Armor knew that they wouldn't try anything so he climbed into the carriage to check on his soon-to-be wife.

He said to her, "How are you after all that?"

Queen Chrysalis swayed her head a bit to look at him and said, "Well I made it out, thanks to you. But I am exausted from having to supply these Changelings with energy."

Shining Armor looked concerned when he tried to comfort her, "I know it must be hard, but we're almost back and then Celestia will take over."

Queen Chrysalis smiled weakly and said, "I'll try."

Shining Armor tried to change the subject and said, "It's too bad we had to cancel our vacation."

Queen Chrysalis responded very vaguely, "I know, I was looking forward to spending time with you, away from work."

Shining Armor shook his head and looked at the floor as he spoke, "IT wasn't just that. We were going to Ponyville to surprise my sister, Twilie. Now the first time she'll be hearing about the wedding will be in the invitation."

Queen Chrysalis leaned over and said, "Don't worry, with everything that you've said about your sister, I'm sure that she'll understand."

Shining Armor looked up and said, "Yeah, you're right. Thanks."

They leaned in and kissed each other. Queen Chrysalis drew back after a second of it. She couldn't help herself. There was so much love energy being passed to her at once through the kiss that she couldn't handle it.

Shining Armor looked at her and said, "What's wrong?"

Queen Chrysalis quickly recovered from her shock and said, "Sorry I just felt the carriage hit something and it scared me."

Shining Armor nodded and was about to speak when the carriage stopped. Shining Armor jumped out the door and looked around. He didn't see anything amiss until he looked down and saw that all the Changelings had collapsed. Queen Chrysalis had peeked out and saw it as well. She quickly retreated back into the carriage and pretended like she had passed out. She knew that Princess Cadance had been giving energy to the Changelings and also knew that the supply would have halted when she was trapped in the dungeon. That meant that it had only been a matter of time before they collapsed from exhaustion.

Shining Armor realized what was going on and quickly looked inside the carriage. He saw that he had been right in his guess. His wife was too tired and could no longer supply them with energy. He began to panic. He needed to find a way of getting nourishment to these ponies as fast as he could. He tried to think of something but he couldn't figure anything out. Then he heard a noise outside. He stepped out and saw the Changelings getting off the ground and brushing themselves off.

He looked back at his fiance and asked himself when he saw that she was still unconscious, "How did they..."

Knight Mare cut him off, "I think I know, sir. I feel the energy coming from a different source. I believe that our original source of energy that Draco had given us is back up and running again."

Shining Armor breathed a sigh of relief and left the carriage, knowing that he would not have to ask his special somepony to push herself any further.

* * *

When they finally made it back to Canterlot, they were all forced to go to the prison block and populate the holding cells. Shining Armor explained to them that they were required to have a maximum of three ponies in a cell, so he could not have them all in the same one. He let them all decide on which ones they wanted to be in.

Renegade and Terror Tooth took one, the three stallions took another, and the last one was occupied by Knight Mare, Viñyl, and Dragonshy. In each cell was a bench, a toilet, and a bed. Viñyl hopped onto the bed and made herself comfortable. Knight Mare took a seat on the bench, making room for Dragonshy to sit next to her. Dragonshy knew that both of their intentions were to get together with him before they were sent back to the Changeling Capital and sentenced to death. Well Dragonshy did not plan on spending his last day alive as a cheater, so he went over and sat on the toilet lid.

Both the mares drooped their heads in disappointment. Neither of them really thought that he would go for it. Knight Mare had loved Dragonshy since they joined the army together. They had been on countless missions together and had shared so many experiences. She had spent years trying to get him to ask her out, but he never did. It took a while before she realized that he was just completely unaware that she had feelings for him. So she decided to finally tell him and then he accepted her feelings. Their relationship had just been starting to take off when he was chased from the Capital. The only thing she wanted to was to be his lover at some point in her life time. Viñyl just thought that he was incredibly attractive and wanted to see how he was in bed.

The hour dragged on and their moment of reckoning was soon approaching. Dragonshy had fallen asleep on the floor some minutes ago. Knight Mare could not contain herself anymore. There was nothing else in the world that she wanted at that moment than to be with Dragonshy. She jumped off of the bench and began to walk up to the sleeping Dragonshy. She felt a hoof on her shoulder and instantly stopped. Turning around, she say that it was Viñyl.

Viñyl whispered to her, "I want this just as bad as you do. If you're gunna force 'im ta do it, then I'm gunna 'elp."

Knight Mare could see that she was not going to be able to convince her otherwise and just said angrily, "Fine."

They both charged their horns and lifted the sleeping Dragonshy. The placed him on the bed and walked over. They were so excited that they did no hear the approaching sounds of hooves on the stairs to their cell block. The mares climbed onto the bed to stand above Dragonshy and commenced cuddling each other. Licks were exchanged and, eventually, Dragonshy began to wake up.

Dragonshy woke up, saw what what was going on and, before he could do anything about it, he heard, "Dragonshy?! What the hay are you doing?!"

Dragonshy instantly recognized the voice and jumped to the front of his cell to see a sight that almost brought him to tears. There was Rainbowdash, Fluttershy, and all their friends. his happiness, however, was short lived. He had gotten close enough to the bars for Rainbowdash to hit him in the face with her fore hoof. The blow sent him to the ground, holding his nose.

He rubbed it and said, "Geeze, Rainbowdash, what was that for?"

Rainbowdash yelled at him, "The first time I am seeing you in more than a week and it's underneath two mares?! And we came all this way to help you!"

Knight Mare ran up to the bars and said, "Hey, you'd better back off before I..."

Viñyl put a hoof on her shoulder again and said, "That's his mare-friend."

Rainbowdash nodded and asked triumphantly, "Yeah and what are you?"

Knight Mare crossed her hooves and said, "His real mare-friend."

Rainbowdash and Knight Mare both looked at Dragonshy and said, "You've got some explaining to do."


	41. Chapter Forty One-He's Back

**Guys, the story is very close to ending. I need to know which pony you would like for me to write about next. Please vote on the poll that I have set up or just message me. Something to let me know what you want. I will not start my next story until I know what you all want. So you'd better let me know which one you want to read about or I won't be posting any new chapters after this story is done.**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty One-He's Back**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Rainbowdash yelled at Dragonshy, "Well?! Who is this?!"

Saving Dragonshy, Fluttershy out a hoof on Rainbowdash's shoulder and said, "Rainbowdash, that's not what we're here for."

Knight Mare looked at them and said, "Yeah, why are you here?"

Twilight separated herself from the others as she stepped up to the bars to answer the question, "We saw, in the paper, that a group of Changelings that had been attempting to flee from their government were arrested yesterday. As soon as the trains were back up and running, we got out tickets and came here to hopefully help you get out of going back to the Changeling Capital."

Knight Mare laughed a bit and asked, "How do you expect to do that?"

Twilight looked from her to Dragonshy and said, "Well, he's going to talk his way out of it."

Dragonshy was perplexed by this suggestion, so her said, "What?! Why me?! I barely know what is going on!"

Twilight began to charge the magic up in her horn and said, "For now..."

Fluttershy stepped up to the bars of the cage and said, "When Discord tricked all of us into turning our backs onto each other, Twilight saved us by using a memory spell on us. I thought that maybe she could use it on you and you could maybe get yourself out of trouble."

Dragonshy blinked a couple of times and said, "That's a very good idea, Fluttershy. Let's give it a shot."

Rainbowdash yelled before Twilight finished charging the spell, breaking her concentration, "Wait! Dragonshy, I'm really sorry about getting mad at you last time you were at my house. I know that it wasn't your fault and I should not have acted the way I did. I hope that, after you get your memory back, you love for me and Fluttershy will not change."

Dragonshy reached through the bars and stroked her mane saying, "Rainbowdash, nothing could ever change how I feel about you or Fluttershy."

Rainbowdash nodded and backed away as Twilight began to charge her magic again. After a moment, she touched her horn to Dragonshy's forehead. There was a flash of light and the next thing that everypony saw was Dragonshy, on the floor.

Viñyl poked him, smiled and said, "'E's out cold! Knight Mare, let's get back ta where we left off..."

Knight Mare was at a loss for words. She had been so stunned by what Dragonshy had said before the began to wonder if he would choose this new mare over her.

Twilight turned to leave, saying, "He'll need some time to process the new information he had just been given. We'd better let him rest."

Rainbowdash said very confidently, "Well me and Fluttershy have been practicing, watch this."

Rainbowdash threw a hoof over Fluttershy's shoulder and went on to kiss her on the forehead. This action reminded Fluttershy of when she had first met Dragonshy and kissed him on the forehead. The thought and the action made her blush profusely. After a second, they were surrounded by a white aura. Soon, a beam of white magic shot from the aura to hit Dragonshy. IT went for the duration of the kiss and then stopped.

Rainbowdash saw Dragonshy's eyes open slightly and said, "Dragon?! How do you feel?"

Dragonshy rubbed his head saying, "I feel like I just woke up from a bad night at the bar."

Knight Mare stepped forward asking, "Draco? Do you know who I am?"

Dragonshy looked at her, a serious look adorned his face, and he answered, "Of course you are..."

Before he could continue, laughter could be heard from the cell behind him as Terror Tooth had decided to make a joke, "Dontchya mean Dragonshy?! Really?! Dragonshy?! Commander Dragonshy!"

His laughter echoed off the walls and caused everypony to cover their ears. Dragonshy glared at the flying Changeling. Terror Tooth felt the glare, looked up, and gulped. He had seen this look many times and all of the occurrences were ugly. He was glad that he was behind bars. The fact that they were in different cells protected him from the punishment he would have normally gotten. Dragonshy stepped up to the bars that separated his cell from Terror Tooth's. When he was only inches away from it, he burst into a cloud of black smoke. The smoke seeped through the bars and transformed back into Dragonshy's form right inside the cell.

Dragonshy went face-to-face with Terror Tooth and said menacingly, "You got a problem with Dragonshy?"

Terror Tooth fumbled through his words as he answered the question, "No sir, not at all. I love Dragonshy. Dragonshy's a great name. I think that..."

Terror Tooth slowly shrunk under the intense glare that he was receiving from Dragonshy. With each word, he felt it more and more until he decided that it would just be better to stop talking. Dragonshy nodded and looked at Renegade.

Renegade gave a playful salute and said, "Glad to have you back sir."

Dragonshy nodded and then Viñyl spoke up excitedly, "So, now that we've got him, we stagin' a break out?!"

As she finished her question, she grew one of her fore legs to the size that it had been in battle.

Renegade said, "I'm up for it."

The stallions gathered at the edge of their cage and Maxie said, "I've been working this lock since we got here. I'm ready when you are."

Dragonshy turned to face the majority of them and said, "No... we do not need to run from the law anymore. I did have a plan to get around the legal issues after coming here. It has been set in place to protect the four of us from being arrested. I think, if I modify the defense a bit, I can clear all of us of the charges that we have been given. The best thing that we can do, as of now, is to wait until we are brought before Princess Cadance and we explain ourselves."

Knight Mare seemed annoyed when she said, "Yeah, because that worked out so well for you last time, right?"

Dragonshy faced her to respond, "I did not have my memory last time. If I had, it would not have gone the way that it did. Maxie, fix that lock. I don't want anypony to be able to tell that you messed with it. The rest of you, just calm down and let me do the talking when we are called."

They all nodded their understanding.

Dragonshy turned his attention to the mares that had come to visit him and said, "Thank you, for that you have done for me. I don't know how I could ever repay you for the kindness that you gave me and the loyalty that you have given to me."

Fluttershy smiled warmly and said, "I'm just glad to see that you're all better..."

A tear appeared in Rainbowdash's eye as she spoke, "Wait... this all sounds like a good bye... Are you leaving us?!"

Dragonshy looked slightly hurt by the question. He slowly walked to the bars that separated him from Rainbowdash. When he reached them, he continued walking at the same speed. He melted through them as if he were some kind of gel. His body just melted through the gaps between the bars and he came together on the other side of them.

He gave Rainbowdash a passionate hug and whispered to her, "Don't worry. Once we're out of this, I'll come back to Ponyville. This time, there will be nothing to stop us from living a normal life together."

Rainbowdash returned the hug and Dragonshy invited Fluttershy to join in. When she did, the trio was surrounded in a white aura that was almost blinding.

When Dragonshy broke the embrace, he said, "Alright, now you guys just wait for me in Ponyville. I'll be there within the next two days."

The all said their good byes to him and left. Dragonshy sighed and walked towards his cell. He became transparent momentarily as he passed through the bars.

Dragonshy was hoping to be able to relax and collect his thoughts so that he was prepared for the hearing that was in less than an hour, but Viñyl stopped him when she asked, "Hey, can I do that?"

Dragonshy raised an eyebrow when he asked, "Do what?"

Viñyl rolled her eyes and said, "That! Your over there meltin' through the bars. I wanna do that!"

Dragonshy looked at her and said, "Well you do seem to have the same powers as me. You might be able to."

Viñyl raised a celebratory hoof in the air saying, "That's so pimpin'. Guess I'll have ta start spendin' a lot of time with you ta get my powers workin'"

Dragonshy rubbed his forehead and said sarcastically, "Can't wait."

As if his head ache was not bad enough already, Knight Mare began to speak with him, "Um... Draco..."

Dragonshy took a deep breath and then turned to face her, "Yes, Kimmy?"

Knight Mare felt a bit better after hearing him call her by her nickname and went on to ask, "Um... so what happens now? I mean between us."

Dragonshy walked a bit closer to her before he answered her, "Honestly, I have no idea. I do love you, Kimmy. I've loved you since we started going out. But these mares saved me when I was dying in a crater. They helped me get to where I am right now. They love me and I them. I honestly don't know who to choose and I hope that you're willing to wait for me to have my answer."

Knight Mare held back her tears as she responded, "Of course I will wait for you. I waited for a year for you to make the first move, I can wait a little longer."

Dragonshy kissed her on the forehead and said, "Thank you, for everything."

With that, he walked to the end of the cell and shrunk himself to be skinny enough to walk between the bars. He then jumped onto the bed that was in the cell that had been empty just a moment ago. He close his eyes and allowed sleep to overtake him. His head was still being overrun with memories as they flood into his mind. He figured that sleep would help put them all in place.

* * *

Dragonshy woke up to the sound of the bars of his cell being hit with a spear. He jumped from the bed and took in his surroundings. Everypony had been released from their cell and now stood in front of his. There were enough guards for each one of them to have a guard on them at all times. Dragonshy walked up to the door and waited for his guard to release him. Once out, his wings were tied down and he was forced to get into line with the rest of his companions. They were marched through Canterlot to the palace.

He was brought into the throne room along with everypony else. Sitting at the thrones were Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Queen Chrysalis. Off to the side stood Shining Armor, looking as serious as ever.

Dragonshy bowed as he said, "Good morning, your majesty."

The rest of them followed his lead and Queen Chrysalis said, "Arise!"

Dragonshy, along with his companions remained bowed and Queen Chrysalis asked, "Did you not hear me? I said arise!"

Dragonshy remained bowed but looked up to say, "I would, except that I am not bowing to you."

Princess Celestia spoke before Queen Chrysalis could say something back, "You may stand. For future reference, Commander, one should give their ruler a bit more respect."

Dragonshy and company rose and then Dragonshy responded, "With all due respect, Princess Celestia, she is no longer my ruler. I gave up my rights as a Changeling the day that I left the Capital. As far as the law is concerned, I am currently a pilgrim and have no ruler. My bow was directed towards you as a thanks for the hospitality that you have shown me."

Queen Chrysalis glared at him and said, "What do you mean?"

This question peeked Dragonshy's attention and he went on to explain himself, "Surely you know, Queen Chrysalis. I annexed myself after our 'conversation'."

Queen Chrysalis seemed genuinely surprised when she asked, "What?! How?! I did not give you my permission for annexation."

Dragonshy smiled as he went on, "Ma'am, I was first-commander of the Changeling military. I was first adviser and your would-be groom. I had all the political rights that you had. If I wanted to leave the Capital, I had every right."

Princess Luna seemed troubled by this and turned to Queen Chrysalis as she asked, "Would-be groom? What is this one talking about?"

Queen Chrysalis looked at Dragonshy with scorn when she answered Princess Luna, "It is customary for the Changelings to fight for my hand in marriage. Dragonshy, without realizing the outcome of his actions, had risen up to be the top fighter in the entire Capital. I had tricked him into going through all of this because I saw him as the best suitor. Once in this position, the only way for him to be demoted is to be killed in a fight. So he had no choice but to become my husband."

Dragonshy was glad to see that the Princesses had no knowledge of Changeling culture, so he would be able to make them believe that everything they did was too dark and vile.

He said, "The only way out would be not to give up my title, but to give up my citizenship completely."

There was a muttered conversation between Queen Chrysalis and Princess Celestia before Princess Celestia said, "Queen Chrysalis has informed me that your marriage had been declared a year before your escape. If you really did leave for that reason, why did you wait so long?"

Dragonshy answered her question very simply, "Because I couldn't. Changelings need the energy that is given to them by their queen. When a Changeling gives up his rights as a citizen, he gives up his rights to the energy that the queen gives. I had spent that entire year trying to find a way of keeping myself alive without her energy, but to no avail. I thought that there was no way out and decided that I would have to go through the marriage. I almost did except that I was alerted of some plans that deeply troubled me. We were planning on taking over a nation in a way that made me totally disgusted in our own government. I got into an argument with Queen Chrysalis at the next meeting which escalated to me saying a few choice words that had probably never been spoken in that throne room before. When I left the palace that night, I knew that the Queen was going to take drastic measures against me, so I began to leave immediately. I went to the bottom floor of the palace and spoke with the receptionist there. I was able to file my papers for annexation and..."

Queen Chrysalis interrupted saying, "Those papers would not have gone through. In order for that to happen, you would need a court order allowing you to file such papers. Even if you did have every right, you still needed that. Also, because that particular meeting had been set at two in the morning, there would have been no judges available."

Dragonshy responded very proudly, "You're absolutely right, there were none available. But there was, however, a Changeling that was on the committee of war. Changelings in the committee of war are granted the rights of judges so that they are able to make treaties and declare war. Probational Lieutenant Terror Tooth was on that committee and passed my papers."

Queen Chrysalis argued this point, "Lieutenants are not given positions on the committee and Terror Tooth has probational in his title so that we are able to kick him out of the military whenever we feel the need. So he would never be able to get a spot on the committee."

Dragonshy knew that Queen Chrysalis would not bring up this point since it was her special permission that got him onto the committee and answered her accordingly, "But, Queen Chrysalis, it was your recognition of his skills as a strategist and your recommendation that got him onto the committee in the first place."

Terror Tooth laughed and said, "That's right. I'd 'ave thought you'd remember somehin' like that... Queen..."

Terror Tooth broke out into laughter at the end of his sentence. He could see what Dragonshy was getting at and it cracked him up.

Dragonshy brought his attention back to the thrones and said, "My friend is right, it does seem odd that you'd forget something as uncommon as that..."

Queen Chrysalis' eyes darted from side to side as she responded, "I... yes... well... the occurrence just slipped my mind. You're not off the hook yet though. Those papers are not the only thing that you need. For a member of the military to request annex, they'd have to get an officer of the same rank to approve which requires a fight between the two. There were no fights between the time of the meeting and the time of your escape."

Dragonshy said, "That is not true, Queen Chrysalis. While the fights did become a custom to force the officer to agree, they are not required. That tradition only started when officers would always deny the request and the officer that was requesting would be forced to fight them and force them to agree to it. I, however, am good friends with a commander who approved of it without a fight. I got a hold of Second Commander Knight Mare as soon as I could and she approved my request of annexation."

Queen Chrysalis could feel herself being backed into a corner and tried to think of another obstacle that he would have had to overcome, "Well, even so, there was not enough time for you to..."

Dragonshy knew what she was about to bring up and interrupted her, "For me to alert the guards at the gate of my approval for leaving? That would require something like the lieutenant that had been in charge at the gate at that point in time to accept my request to leave. The Changeling in charge of the guard at that point in time is allowed to grant me half a day out of the Capital. If my papers for annexation make it through the system while I am gone, then I am allowed to stay gone. Second Lieutenant Renegade gave me permission to leave and gave me his word that he would make sure that the papers got through the system before I had to be back. Isn't that right?"

Renegade smiled and said, "Yeah, and I went straight from there to the palace to make the receptionist put them through while a stood and watched over her shoulder."

Dragonshy tuned back to Princess Celestia and said, "So there you have it, Princess Celestia. The law requires that you give me over to her only if I am illegally attempting to leave the Changeling Capital. I am not. I submitted my requests as the law required and left. I had been on my way here to request your permission to become a citizen of Equestria when I was wrongly attacked by Changelings that had been sent by the Queen since she was scared that I might leek the information that I know to you, which is not a crime if I do not belong to her nation."

Princess Celestia nodded as she commented, "Well it does seem like you covered all you bases. I think..."

Queen Chrysalis interrupted her by saying, "Well you are not in here for your attempt to flee before, this is a new accusation entirely. You managed a prison break, which is illegal, and fled here. Our motive for chasing you this time was completely justified."

Dragonshy knew that he had won when he responded, "That may be so, but my reasons for being in prison in the first place were not. I had been thrown in prison because of my supposed crimes against the Changelings. I did not commit any crimes against the Changelings and thus should not have been in jail. I also had amnesia and was not in the right mind when I was sentenced. I should have been allowed time to recover from my mental issues before I was tried. So I will also be blaming my mental issues with the prison break, which excuses me from the law until I am healthy."

Queen Chrysalis was angry to have been beaten, so she tried to tease him, "Well you may be excused from your current situation, but your friends aren't. There were no papers filed for their annexation. So they were still illegally on Equestrian ground."

Dragonshy answered her angrily, "That's not true and if you were the real Queen you'd know that!" A silence fell upon the room and Dragonshy went on after calming down a little, "In order for one to request annexation, they must leave with a minimum of three other Changelings in order to make a nomadic herd. Of course, my three were Renegade, Terror Tooth, and Knight Mare. They are allowed as much time as they need to prepare themselves for their journey before they leave. Until they do leave, they are treated as citizens. You took advantage of that and sent them all on missions before they could leave, since all citizens are part of the military. As for our friend here, Viñyl, I admit that she has some strange powers and that it is odd that she feeds off of the energy of love, but you have no way of proving that she has taken over the body of a Changeling. We do, however, have proof that she is who she says she is since she can answer any question about her life and can give a blood sample. Unless you have any proof that she did, in fact, take over the body of a Changeling, you cannot try her for it."

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Princess Cadance, and Shining Armor were all smiling brilliantly. They had all been racking their brains, trying to figure out a way to get Dragonshy out of this trouble but had come up with nothing. They were all glad to see that he did make it out.

Queen Chrysalis, however, had one more attempt, "Hold it! In order for members of a herd to be allowed to stay in the Capital to prepare, they must have some thing that sets them apart from the rest of the population during their entire stay. If this requirement was not met, then their leaving was illegal and..."

Dragonshy did not let her get any further and said, "They did. If you had read over the papers that I had submitted, then you would have seen a painting of a blowing green stone on a thread. I had made that the symbol of our new herd and, as you can see, each of them are wearing the necklace that I had specified. We are all innocent, Queen Chrysalis, and you cannot do anything about it."

Queen Chrysalis said, "But..."

Princess Celestia said, "That's enough. Clearly Dragonshy predicted your trickery and took every precaution and step that is required so that you would not be able to turn this on him. I declare that each be cleared of all the charges that have been placed on them. Our discussion of their citizenship will begin after somepony here leaves since the matters that involved her have been settled."

Queen Chrysalis took the hint and left angrily.

Princess Celestia continued, "Well I ask that everypony leave the room except for Dragonshy, Knight Mare, Renegade, Terror Tooth, Princess Luna and myself."

Dragonshy spoke up before anypony moved, "If I may, your majesty, I think that it may be in his best interest for Shining Armor to stay as well."

The room emptied except for the ponies mentioned and they began their discussion on the citizenship of the former Changelings."

**Hey guys. So, for some reason, when I tried to post this chapter yesterday, it did not go through. I figured I would just add today's chapter onto the one that was supposed to go out yesterday and call it even. I don't know what happened but I hope you aren't too mad about it. Thanks for you understanding and I hope you enjoyed chapter forty one!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**


	42. Chapter Forty Two-Back to Normal

**So, as it happens, the reason I was not getting anyone to vote on my poll was because I did not post it right. Thankfully, some one has brought the error to my attention and I have dealt with it accordingly. So I ask that you please do vote so that I can get a proper assessment on which one you guys want to read about.**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Two-Back to Normal**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Princess Celestia cut right to the chase, "So, Commander Dr..."

Dragonshy cut in saying, "My apologies, your highness, but it's just Draco now."

Princess Celestia started over, "Draco, I would like nothing more than to allow you and your friends to become citizens of Equestria. However, it is customary that you offer something in return for your admittance. You said you have information? I hope that you have enough for each of you."

Dragonshy responded very seriously, "Yes, ma'am, I do. First of all, I know that the Changelings are planning an attack on Canterlot that will include every available Changeling. Second, I know that they plan on doing it during the wedding of Shining Armor and Princess Cadance. Third, that mare that was sitting there not a moment ago was not Queen Chrysalis. Queen Chrysalis would have known all of that before I had to tell her since most of it had to go through her system in order for it to work. She had known the entire time that locking me up was against the rules but she was doing it anyway. However, when she was here, she seemed genuinely surprised by the information and did not have any ready excuses. If she had been the real Queen, then she would have had a story planned out to counter my truth."

Shining Armor asked out of curiosity, "So why did you only ask me to stay here?"

Dragonshy looked at him as if the answer was obvious and said, "Because I figured that you deserve to know that your wedding is being targeted for an attack."

Shining Armor pointed to the door and asked, "Well then shouldn't she have stayed here too?"

Dragonshy looked back to the Princesses and said, "That brings me to my forth point, thus having one bit of information for all of us. If the Queen was too busy to come to something as important as this, that means that she has already put herself in a position of infiltration. I was in charge of infiltration before I left and I know that the plan was for me to somehow get you out of the picture, Shining, and take your place. If Queen Chrysalis has given the job of infiltration to herself and she is already in then that means that Princess Cadance could very well be the Queen in actuality."

Shining Armor seemed disgusted by the suggestion and said, "That's outrageous! The Queen has never had an opportunity to get hold of Princess Cadance. Besides, how can you be so sure that it was her? What if I am the one who is Queen Chrysalis in disguise?"

Dragonshy answered the question quite easily, "It is very unlikely that she would turn into you. The transition between a stallion and a mare is very uncomfortable. Actually it's pretty unbearable. A Changeling does it just like any other change but there is an oddity about it that can drive a Changeling insane. Also, I did not say that it was her for sure. I was merely pointing out that my reason for not wanting her in here was that she might be. I suggest that you do not share too much information with any mare until we find out who she has disguised as."

Princess Celestia nodded and said, "Well you certainly did have plenty of vital information, definitely enough for me to allow you four to become citizens. We will hold the ceremony in a few days. Until then, I am assuming that you would like to be released to go see your friends."

Dragonshy nodded and said, "Yes, I would like that."

Princess Celestia said, "Well I don't do this very often but I think that you all deserve this. Could somepony call Viñyl and her friends in? I will send each of you to the town that you would like to reside in. Would the other three of you like a certain place?"

Renegade shrugged and said, "I really could not care less, as long as I don't have to fight any more. Just send me with Draco, he'll help me out."

Terror Tooth jumped onto Renegade's back and shrieked, "Anywhere Renny goes, I go!"

Knight Mare blushed when she made her request, "I'll go to Ponyville too."

Princess Celestia nodded and said, "Alright but remember, in order for you to remain citizens, you are required to find a job. Make sure that you do before your ceremony. I look forward to seeing you all there."

As she spoke, she charged her magic in her horn and released it when she had charged enough. There was a blinding light and they all found themselves standing in front of the library. They all looked at Dragonshy, who shrugged and knocked on the door. Fluttershy answered the door and immediately rushed to embrace Dragonshy.

She threw her fore legs over his shoulders and said as loud as she could, "Yay!"

However, the cry for joy was not much louder than a whisper.

There was a voice at the door and Twilight revealed herself as she said, "Fluttershy, who was it... Girls! Girls! It's Dragon!"

Twilight had to duck as a cyan blur sailed right over her head and tackled Dragonshy to the ground. Dragonshy found himself with his back to the ground and Rainbowdash in his face.

Rainbowdash exclaimed in her excitement, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so glad that your back!"

Dragonshy got up as Twilight walked up to him and said, "So I'm guessing that it went well."

Dragonshy nodded and said, "That's right. We're all free to live in Equestria as regular citizens. But, we all need to find jobs..."

Viñyl smiled and said, "Well you're all set since I already filed in yo paperwork ta work fo me."

Dragonshy looked at her questioningly, "What are you talking about? I never filled out an application to work for you."

Viñyl's smile broadened as she said, "Maybe not, but while you guys were in there talkin', we were in the lobby trickin' the mare there into puttin' you down as one of my butlers 'n ya can't quit unless I fire ya."

Dragonshy still did not completely understand and asked for some clarification, "Alright, well I'll check if that's true. If it is, what does a butler do?"

Viñyl's smile was a devious one and she answered him as it broadened, "My butlers basically just do whatever I tell 'em from cleanin' the house ta helpin' me relax after a long day of work. It's a pretty easy job since I'm out all the time fo parties. When I'm gone, ya still get paid but ya don't have ta do anythin'."

Dragonshy thought about it a bit and said, "Well that doesn't sound too bad, I'll do it."

Viñyl rose her hoof in the air in celebration as Rainbowdash, Fluttershy, and Knight Mare all said at the same time, "Wait, no..."

Viñyl said abruptly, "It's too late! 'E's already agreed! I've got audio proof that he accepted the job offer! Now ya really will be workin' fo me!"

Dragonshy looked around blankly asking, "What's the problem? It sounded like a good job to me,"

Viñyl put her hoof over his shoulders and began to lead him down the road as she talked, "Don't worry 'bout them. Now let's head ta my place ta get ya fitted fo the uniform. I bet ya look good in leather!"

Dragonshy began to piece it together and exclaimed , "Wait... What?!"

Once they were gone, Renegade chuckled to himself and said, "Draco never was oblivious to that kind of stuff. Oh well, he'll be having a lot of fun. Anyway, any of you know where I might be able to find a job? I'm strong and hardworking."

Applejack stepped forward and said, "Well shoot, yer welcome ta come help us down at the farm. In fact, there's an old shack in the orchard that yer welcome to stay in if ya'll don't got a place ta stay yet."

Renegade thought about it for a moment and said, "A farm? Yeah that sounds like a good place for me. I'd be more than happy to help."

Applejack began to walk down the road and Renegade followed as she said, "Great! We'd better hurry there and introduce ya ta everypony. I know Granny Smith is gunna wanna meet the new worker."

With his one friend not there anymore, Terror Tooth decided that he'd go find some where to stay. He figured that he had plenty of time to find a job and he wanted a nice place to stay. He turned around to leave but found his path blocked by a pink mare standing face-to-face with him.

Before he could say anything, the mare said, "Hey there, I'm Pinkiepie! You need a job too, right? Well I can tell that you're perfect to fill the empty spot at Sugarcube Corner! What do you say?! Want to help me?!"

Terror Tooth had been taken completely off guard and could only say, "Well um..."

Pinkiepie took that as answer enough and yelled, "Great! You can stay in the empty house next door to me!"

She grabbed his hoof and began to bounce in the direction of her house. Terror Tooth was being dragged by his hoof and hit his head on the ground every time Pinkiepie bounced. He was surprised to find that he was not finding the experience not enjoyable. He felt excited and he was waiting in anticipation to see what Pinkiepie did next. He was not used to this feeling of not knowing what's coming next. He normally was able to guess exactly what would be done next but so far has been completely surprised by everything that this mare has done.

All that were left at the library were Knight Mare, Twilight, Rainbowdash, Fluttershy, and Rarity.

Knight Mare looked hopefully at Rarity who said, "I'm sorry darling, but I do not take help very well. I hope you understand that I just need my space."

She trotted off after saying that.

Knight Mare looked at Fluttershy but Rainbowdash began to lead Fluttershy away as she said, "We don't have any available jobs. Maybe you should try a different town."

Rainbowdash and Fluttershy took off, leaving Twilight there with Knight Mare.

Twilight smiled and said, "I'm sorry about Rainbowdash. She is just kind of mad to find out that Dragonshy had somepony else in his life before he lost his memory. I'm sure that she'll calm down eventually. You're welcome to stay here. The library had a large basement that you can use as your room. I've been told that you are an accomplished magic-user, so you could probably help me with my research. Does that sound ok?"

Knight Mare nodded and said, "That sounds great, thank you."

They walked into the library together. Everypony had their jobs and their ceremony of welcome was not too far away. Now that everything has calmed down a little, Twilight was hoping that everything would go back to normal.


	43. Chapter Forty Three-Jobs

**Hey guys! So two awesome things happened today! The first being that I have hit fifty followers! Thanks to all of you who keep me going with the encouragement that you offer. The next is that my favorite FanFic has finally had an update after months of nothing! I am speaking of "The Storm Trilogy: A Shadow Rising" by William Sable. That is the story that got me hooked on reading FanFics and eventually inspired me to start up my own story. Now there is some bad news. I'm going on an over-night trip for the forth of july, so there will not be a chapter posted tomorrow. Alright I think that I have covered everything. Enjoy Chapter Forty Three!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Three-Jobs**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

It was a few days after the group had made it back to Ponyville and everypony was adapting to their new lives quite nicely. Dragonshy was Viñyl's newest addition to her group of stallions, Renegade has moved into an old shack in Sweetapple Acres to live near his new job at the farm, Terror Tooth was helping Pinkiepie at Sugarcube Corner, and Knight Mare was Twilight's newest assistant.

Rainbowdash had been a little annoyed when Dragonshy had not come to stay the night at her house like he had done before. She had decided to go look for him in town and ask him why he hadn't. She didn't see him at all for the next few days. Rainbowdash was beginning to worry about Dragonshy and went to Viñyl's house to see what was going on.

She knocked on the door, Hugo answered it, and before he could say anything, she yelled into the house so that she could be heard over the loud music that was playing, "Viñyl! Where's Dragonshy?! I haven't seen him in days!"

Viñyl's voice could be heard frantically calling back to her, "Rainbowdash?! Um... he's uh... right 'ere! But 'e's kind a busy right now! Give 'im a minute ta get ready!"

Rainbowdash did not like the sound of that at all. She knew that Viñyl loved stallions a bit too much and had a thing for Dragonshy. Not only that, but he was her butler now. Rainbowdash hated the thought of anypony else having him. She jumped over Hugo, flew through the house, and burst through the door into Viñyl's room. Rainbowdash was horrified at what she saw. Dragonshy was in a cage that was the exact size and shape of him. The inner side of the bars were lined with needles that were constantly poking at Dragonshy. He had been gagged, blindfolded and locked in the terrible cage. Rainbowdash heard the door open behind her and turned around just in time to see Viñyl trying to sneak out of the room. Rainbowdash flew to her, picked her up, and tossed her into her bed.

Pinning down Viñyl, Rainbowdash stood over here and said, "What the hay are you doing?! I thought he was just your butler!"

Viñyl spit out the whip that she had been holding in her mouth and tried to explain herself, "He is my butler and the working contract for my butlers clearly states that they must follow all my commands no matter what they might be and they are to be my butlers for life. He refused to do what I told him to do since he loves you, so I am just punishing him. That is the tool that I use for breaking in stallions. It worked on the other three, so it hasn't failed me once."

Rainbowdash was furious and she yelled, "That's ridiculous! Why would he sign something like that?!"

Viñyl shrugged and said, "I told him that it was required for him to legally work for me and he just signed it without reading it. Given I did promise that I would not do anything too erotic with him. By my definition, I haven't."

Rainbowdash had never been so angry in her life. She raised up a hoof to hit Viñyl in the nose but it was caught and pulled back. She found herself pinned by both of her fore hooves to the bed. Hugo was holding onto one and Maxie was holding down the other. Rainbowdash was about to start kicking but found that Bruno had gone around and held down her hind legs. Viñyl got up and stood over Rainbowdash.

She smiled and said, "Ya know, you're pretty good lookin'. I guess I wouldn't mind sharin' 'im with ya."

Rainbowdash struggled to get away as she said, "There's no way! He's mine! I'm not going to share him with anypony!"

Viñyl smiled and spoke as she went to get her whip back, "Rainbowdash, that wasn't a request. That was a statement. We're gunna share 'im, whether ya like it or not."

Rainbowdash was trying to keep her head moving as they tried to gag her and was only manage to yell, "Never."

They gagged her and poked her chest with the whip as she said, "Well it looks like ya gunna need some breakin' in too. Actually, I can break ya both in at the same time. All I gotta do is make sure that he watches."

As she ended her sentence, her horn glowed and she used her magic to take the blindfold off of Dragonshy. He looked, gasped, and cringed as he felt the pricks of all the needles. Viñyl continued on to turn the cage so that Dragonshy was forced to look at the scene on the bed. Dragonshy couldn't move a single muscle or else he would've bust out and wrung Vinyl's neck and he would've tried to grow bigger and break the cage, but it takes a lot of concentration to do any transformations and he could not concentrate with these thousands of needles poking him at every given moment.

Rainbowdash looked at Viñyl in horror as the unicorn moved to stand directly over Rainbowdash and said, "What are you going to do?"

Viñyl gave an evil smirk and leaned her head in closer to Rainbowdash so that their faces were only inches apart and said, "The best part of changin' ta a Changelin' is that I c'n grow extra body parts that I don't normally have. I wanted ta test n' see if I get feelin' from it."

Rainbowdash was very surprised when Viñyl ended her sentence by engaging in a very intimate kiss with her. Rainbowdash was scared and this fear renewed her efforts for trying to move. It was too late. The stallions were already finishing tying her legs down to the bed. She had no choice but to lay there and let Viñyl kiss her. Then a thought crossed through her mind. She glanced sideways and instantly wished she hadn't. She saw that Dragonshy was watching the entire thing and every time Dragonshy tried to close his eyes, one of the stallions would bump the cage. Rainbowdash was totally humiliated and felt her eyes watering up.

Viñyl noticed this, pulled away and said, "At this rate, I'll have you two broken in no time. Now... for my test."

* * *

Renegade was enjoying his new life. He had always hated fighting. He figured he would have liked it more if he had been raised differently. He had always been big for his age and had been bigger than a full-grown Changeling by age eight. His parents decided that he should be thrown into the arena to fight for his life while he earned them money. He had always won and got fairly famous because of it, but he came to despise fighting of any sort. He felt like he could get used to this peaceful life on the farm easily. He had moved into the old shack and had gotten help from the entire Apple family to fix it up.

His jobs included plowing the fields, bucking trees, and hulling baskets of apples. Renegade was beginning to have his own armory set up around his shack. He had discovered that the shack had actually been a forge to make tools and suck. He found a storage room full of unrefined metal. With the help of the Apple family, he was able to design it according to his tastes within a day's work. They had restored the shack, which was only one room, and furnished it with a bed, a trunk, a table, a desk, and chairs. They had also build an addition to the side of the shack that was basically just a roof above an area that had fence around it. They took all of the equipment and supplies from the cellar and moved them underneath the roof that they had built. Renegade decided that he was going to become a blacksmith. The Apples encouraged him to do it and he quickly started practicing and honing his skills.

He found that being a blacksmith was a lot harder than everypony imagined. He had to hold tongs in his mouth and pull a crucible out of a fire. Then he had to carefully pour the molten steel into the mold. Renegade would have to next strap on a horseshoe that covered the entire hoof and was made completely of cast-iron. Using the horseshoe, he would have to slam his hoof onto the anvil numerous times to shape the metal the way that he wanted.

He quickly got the hang of it and decided that his first attempt at a tool would be for him to help plow the fields. He wanted to still help the Apples when he was not busy making things. The plow that he was making was going to be a double-headed plow. Since Renegade was bigger and stronger than most other stallions, he was able to pull the plow with ease. He figured that he would be able to pull a double-headed plow and do twice the work without putting in any extra effort. He decided that he would make another plow for Big Macintosh too, since the one that he was using was really old and rusty.

He had just finished the blade on Big Mac's plow and was about to start carving the frame when he heard a voice, "Well golly! Big Mac's sure gunna love a new plow. Yer pretty good at that, aren't ya partner?"

Renegade put down his tools, smiled and said, "Yeah, it took a little getting used to, but it's a lot of fun and it really does suit me. I decided that I am going to be your new supplier of tools. You don't have to buy any new ones any more since I'll just make them as you need them."

Applejack laughed a bit and said, "Well that all sounds dandy, Sugarcube. How's about ya come and eat dinner with us?"

Renegade thought for a moment and then asked, "Dinner? Wait... What time is it?"

Renegade peeked around the orange mare to see that it was completely dark out and Applejack said, "It's around ten o'clock."

Renegade put down his horseshoe and began to take off the thick apron that he was wearing as he groaned and asked, "What day is it?"

Applejack looked at him, slightly confused, and said, "Friday, why?"

Renegade laughed out loud and said, "I've been here for two days and I didn't even realize it. I'm starving. Let's go eat."

The two walked back to the house and ate dinner with the rest of Applejack's family.

* * *

Terror Tooth was thoroughly enjoying himself. Pinkiepie had gotten him to be placed as her unpaid intern. It counted as a job but he wasn't really required to do anything in particular except for help Pinkiepie with her job. As it turns out, Pinkiepie never really had to be in charge of the desk. her job was actually just to advertise Sugarcube Corner. She was only required to get ponies to shop there and she was paid a bit for every pony she got to go there. All the times when she was behind the desk were just favors that the Cakes had asked her to do for them. Terror Tooth loved it. All she did all day was run around and do whatever she wanted.

Terror Tooth loved every second of it. He had no idea what she would do next. One moment she'd be playing with some fillies and the next she'd be up in a tree, bouncing on it to make the leaves fall on a group of colts that were playing underneath it. Terror Tooth would normally be able to guess every movement that a pony could make, but he was not able to do that with Pinkiepie. She just did whatever with no real rhyme or reason. He loved that fact that she was keeping him guessing. Then there was the food. Pinkiepie was always helping somepony cook something. From cupcakes to pies, she would could several batches of each every day. Normally, Terror Tooth would not be able to eat them since they were so sweet that they would overload his Changeling taste buds. He told this to Pinkiepie and she pulled a bottle of hot sauce out of nowhere. She explained that she enjoyed putting it on her cupcakes sometime sand when he tried it, he could not get enough of it. He started eating a little bit of everything that she made.

Changelings do not need to sleep. Sleeping was just something that they all did because it felt good to do it, but because they use the energy that they receive from somewhere else and do not produce it themselves, they do not get tired physically or mentally. Terror Tooth took full advantage of the fact that he could not sleep and would always lay awake every night and think about everything that he could think of. He quickly learned that Pinkiepie suffered from chronic insomnia and was never able to sleep before five in the morning. Terror Tooth also came to the conclusion that she hated to be alone since she would always knock on his door and he would find her standing there with a board game on her head for them to play. They would play it until she fell asleep on his rug. He would then just put away the game and go to his room.

He welcomed the company. He liked to talk to her. He would tell her his terrible jokes and she would always laugh at them as well as provide her own comical one-liner. Sometimes, he would recite his poetry for her and she would always edit them to make them sound a bit more happy and fun. They always ended up sounding crazy and maniacal but Terror Tooth actually liked the revised versions better. The's only been together for four days and three nights but he felt as if he had known her all his life. He was beginning to think of her as a much happier version of himself. He found it odd and decided that he would talk to Renegade about his surfacing feelings the next day. He walked back into the room with two drinks balanced on one of his wings. He gave one to Pinkiepie and sat down to continue their game of Monopony.

* * *

Knight Mare had spent the last few days trying to figure out what to do about Dragonshy. She was so scared that he might like the other mares more than her. She wanted to do something but knew that she couldn't or else she would get into fight with Rainbowdash and she would not be able to keep herself from killing the cyan pegasus. Not wanting to risk her life in Equestria, she decided to just bury herself in her new job. Her days consisted of precise planning and scheduling followed by punctual magic practice. Knight Mare found that Twilight's magic was very good and well-maintained. She saw that Twilight's magic may be on par with her own. She felt that Twilight's training was helping her as well so she participated without a fuss.

Everypony had their jobs and would begin their preparations for their welcoming ceremony in a few days.


	44. Chapter Forty Four-Explanation

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Four-Explanation**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Rainbowdash shut her eyes as tight as she could. She did not want to watch what was about to happen nor did she want to turn away and see Dragonshy looking. She could hear Viñyl's deep breathing and feel her leaning in closer and closer until there was what sounded like a grunt. Rainbowdash had felt the weight that had been holding down all her hooves move. There was a crash and more grunting. Rainbowdash opened her eyes and saw that Viñyl was no longer on the bed and the stallions were no longer holding her down. Rainbowdash glanced over to where Dragonshy had been and saw that the cage was now empty. Rainbowdash heard another crash and turned herself completely over to see Dragonshy standing in front of a massive hole in the door. Standing on either side of him was Hugo and Bruno. Maxie went back to get the cage that Dragonshy had been in and wheeled it over. Bruno picked up the limp form of Viñyl and tossed it into the cage. Hugo locked it shut.

Rainbowdash took a moment to catch her breath and then asked, "What happened?"

Dragonshy didn't answer. He stood in front of the cage, panting with all his muscles tensed. It was obvious that he was restraining himself from crushing the cage with Viñyl inside of it.

Maxie turned to Rainbowdash and said, "We don't know. Viñyl's never acted like this before. It wasn't right. So I just unlocked Dragonshy and let him save you since none of us three would ever hit Viñyl."

Rainbowdash finally regained her composure and said, "Well why didn't you do anything sooner?"

Bruno shrugged and said, "We thought she was joking."

This comment got Dragonshy's attention and he wasted no time to face Bruno and say, "She locked me in a cage and almost raped my special somepony before my very eyes. Does that sound like a joke that she would pull?"

Hugo chuckled to himself and said, "She likes to tease ponies. She finds a lot of joy in making them uncomfortable. But there is one thing that Viñyl would never do. She would never sleep with a pony other than us. She swore that she wouldn't."

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "Now hold on. She got me to be butler because she wanted to sleep with me."

Hugo shook his head in reply and said, "Like I said, she likes to make ponies uncomfortable. She would probably have just made you serve her every whim in a revealing uniform."

Dragonshy could not contain his anger.

He pounded his hoof onto the floor, creating cracks where it hit, and yelled, "You speak like she didn't actually do this! Like she would have done something else if it hadn't been her! But she did do this and this is her!"

Maxie had a very serious face as he slowly walked up to the enraged Dragonshy and said, "No. She would never do this. She only sleeps with us and would never force a pony against their will even if she wasn't being faithful. There is something wrong here."

Maxie trailed off and went to observe Viñyl's body with the other two. Dragonshy calmed down and remembered back to when he had gotten on the train with Viñyl. Viñyl had known that he would never have slept with her. So she made obvious advances on him and made him very uncomfortable. But she never forced anything to happen. When he had said that he was not going to do anything, she stopped. Dragonshy sighed and walked over to Rainbowdash. He stood face-to-face with her and rested his hooves on her shoulders. Dragonshy could feel her trembling.

He embraced her and asked in a hushed tone, "Are you ok?"

She returned his hug and nodded her head. He felt her nod and just held her for a another couple of moments.

Dragonshy turned back to face the stallions and asked, "Well have you guys figured it out or am I going to have to kick her flank in?"

Bruno looked up and said, "We think it has something to do with that Fear guy. We just don't know exactly what."

Dragonshy pondered the problem that they were in and Rainbowdash was the one to come up with an idea, "Let's take her to Twilight. Twilight will be able to do all her egghead stuff and see what's wrong."

The stallions nodded their approval. the next morning, Bruno and Maxie helped get Viñyl onto Hugo's back. They all left the house together. They had tied up and gagged Viñyl to make sure that she didn't say anything. The stallions explained that they had sworn to do whatever she told them to do. That's why they did not want to be the ones to save Rainbowdash. So they gagged her to make sure that she did not tell them to release her. They had left early in the morning so as not to be seen with a tied up mare on a stallion's back. Ponies might have gotten the wrong idea if they had seen that.

Dragonshy knocked on the door and had to wait a few moments before it was answered by Spike as he rubbed his eyes sleepily.

Spike just looked at Dragonshy and then at the ponies behind him, decided that he was too tired to deal with any of it, and said, "Twilight! It's for you!"

With that he went off to go back to sleep. Within moments, Twilight was at the door and invited everypony inside.

Twilight looked at them and tried to take everything in before asking, "Alright... what happened?"

Hugo dropped Viñyl in front of Twilight and said, "She was acting really weird and not like herself. We were hoping that you could do something to check on what's going on in her head."

Twilight thought for a moment and then said, "Well I could use the holo-display. It just projects whatever a pony is thinking about as a hologram."

She charged her magic and then zapped Viñyl. A glowing sphere appeared above Viñyl's body. In the sphere was the image of a Changeling.

Dragonshy gritted his teeth and spat the Changeling's name, "Captain Fear..."

Captain Fear looked around as if he could not tell where the voice had come from and said, "Draco? Is that you? Am I in your body now? What is going on?"

Dragonshy tried to work with it and motioned for everypony else to stay quiet as he said, "Yeah, I got you out of Viñyl and I'm taking you back to the Capital. I'm hoping that the Queen can get you a new body or something."

Captain Fear looked unconvinced and said, "Why would you be helping me? What's really going on?"

Dragonshy did his best to convince him, "Well the Queen was able to prove that you were in Viñyl's mind, so we have to give you back or give up Viñyl. It's a good thing that you overcame her when you did or we would have had to give Viñyl up. How did you do it?"

Captain Fear took the bait, puffed out his chest, and said, "That energy that you're getting from those mares is top notch. Very pure and very powerful. Viñyl hasn't been trained on how to properly harness this energy. So I've been saving the energy ever since I felt the difference in power. I still was not able to control the body even with that much power. However, I was able to change her mind a bit with the magic. I would just focus a bit of the energy and let it surge through her brain all at once. I guess this stimulated her hormones and kept her from being able to resist any sort of temptation. She really did have quite the thing for you. She was going to hire you just to be her eye candy as you served her, but a few energy surges from me convinced her that she would not be able to stand such a boring relationship. Then your blue friend came in and I took the opportunity to get back at you for ruining my life. I was going to rape your special somepony before your very eyes and you would not have been able to do anything about it..."

That was the last straw. Dragonshy grew his fore leg and used it to pick up a table and throw it at the giant sphere above Viñyl's body. The sphere immediately dispersed and ceased to be there.

Dragonshy was breathing heavily and Rainbowdash tried to calm him down, "Dragon..."

He interrupted her by rapidly talking to Twilight, "I want to get him out of there, now. I want to get him in a new body and kill him."

Twilight backed up a bit and sounded a bit scared when she responded, "I can get him out of there, but I have no idea how to get a new body for him."

A voice came from the basement door, "I know how. There are discarded bodies in a warehouse in the capital. I'm sure that if we managed to get in there, we could swipe one for him to take over."

Everypony looked to see who had talked. It had been Knight Mare.

Twilight took charge of the situation, "Alright then. Knight Mare, you and Rainbowdash work on making a map of the capital so that you are able to easily find your way to the warehouse. I'll start getting the spell ready to get Captain Fear's mind out of Viñyl's. Dragon, you go find something to keep the mind in temporarily. Preferable some type of jewelry. It could be anything though, as long as it it some type of precious metal surrounding a precious stone."

Dragonshy looked at her questioningly and asked, "And just where am I supposed to get that?"

Twilight thought for a moment and said, "Well you could get the jewel from Rarity and then you could get the metal from Renegade, I hear that he has taken up blacksmithing. He'll probably be able to make the jewelry too."

Dragonshy nodded and sprinted out the door. As soon as he was outside, he took off into the air. He flew as fast as he could to Rarity's Boutique and knocked on the door.

When Rarity answered, he asked, "Please Rarity, do you have any precious stones to spare? I just need one. I'll pay you back as soon as I am able."

Rarity plucked a large emerald off the night gown that she was wearing and gave it to him as she said, "But of course, Darling. Whatever is so urgent that puts you in such a hurry?"

Dragonshy prepared to take off and left right after saying, "Anger, mostly."

He launched into the sky and flew to Sweet Apple Acres. He was able to find the hut that Renegade was calling home and began to dive down. When he got closer, he could see that Renegade was sitting at the fire pit with Terror Tooth.

Dragonshy landed and said, "Renegade I need a favor."

Renegade jumped up and said, "Sure, what do you need?"

Dragonshy tossed the gem to Renegade and said, "I need you to make that into a piece of jewelry using some precious metal of your choice."

Renegade shrugged and said, "Alright, shouldn't take more than an hour."

Dragonshy took a seat next to Terror Tooth who began to question what was going on, "So whatchya need the jewelry for? You gunna pop the question ta one of the nice mares that likes you?"

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "No, nothing that extreme. Captain Fear used Viñyl's body to do something unforgivable. I need the jewelry to put his mind into. Then I'm going to take the jewelry to the Capital and get Captain Fear a new body. Then I am going to kill him because he does not deserve to live."

Terror Tooth said, "Well you'll be needin' a master of reconnaissance. I'll go with ya 'n make sure that ya get in ok."

Dragonshy looked at his friend and said, "Thanks, that'll be very helpful."

Renegade shouted over the sound of his hammer slamming against the anvil, "Don't count me out!"

Dragonshy looked at him and said, "I thought you were going to stop fighting once you got out into the world."

Renegade shrugged and said, "I'm not going to let anypony else mess with you but me and Terror Tooth. Let's show this Captain how incompetent his guards are when they try to keep us out."

Dragonshy looked at both of them and then said to both of them, "Alright well pack up. We'll be leaving tomorrow after lunch. We'll take the train to Appaloosa and then walk the rest of the way. We'll be getting Captain Fear as soon as you finish, Renegade."

Renegade grunted as he tried to fashion jewelry how he wanted. it was a little harder than he had expected to shape jewelry with hooves.


	45. Chapter Forty Five-The Plan

**Alright everybody, I know that the poll is working now so it's all on you to vote. I'm pretty sure that all of you don't want the next story to be decided by the five people that did vote. Not only are there only five people that voted, but it's a tie too. I really don't want to start the next story until I feel that I know what the majority of you want. Hopefully you all take the time and vote so that you can see the next story without having too big of a gap between the two. Enjoy chapter forty five!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Five-The Plan**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

It was dawn by the time Renegade managed to shape the necklace he worked so hard on. He had used onyx to make the necklace itself and placed the emerald on the center bead. The three friends were on their way back to Twilight's house. Dragonshy was about to knock on the door when he heard a crash come from inside. Without hesitation, he busted through the door to see what had happened. Renegade and Terror Tooth followed through the doorway but stopped and stared at the scene inside.

The stallions, Rainbowdash, and Twilight were all huddled in a corner and cowering from the monster that stood before them. It looked like a massive black blob with a terrifying face.

Dragonshy yelled, "What's going on here?!"

When he said this, the monster looked at him and began to move toward him. It began to shrink as it made its way to him and by the time it reached him, it had shrunk to the size and shape of a unicorn. It only took a second for the color to appear and reveal Viñyl.

Dragonshy began to raise his hoof in anger and said, "You'd better back off before I stop restraining myself."

Dragonshy knew that it was not Viñyl's fault for acting this way but he could not help but be mad at her. Dragonshy wanted to kill Captain Fear but did not do anything for the soul reason that he was scared to lose Viñyl if he did. While Dragonshy was not going to kill her, he knew that he would feel no regret after knocking her out in one punch.

Viñyl smiled at him and said, "You know, I've gotten very good at transforming. I could restrain you with nothing but my body. Doesn't that sound exciting?"

Viñyl took a quick step forward in an attempt to reach Dragonshy before he had time to punch her. Dragonshy's movements were much swifter than hers and connected before her back hooves left the ground. However, rather than being sent flying backwards, her face seemed to melt over his hoof and bent to contain it. The rest of Viñyl's body melted into a blob of some sort and continued her advance past his hoof. She tried to engulf him in her own flesh but Dragonshy had other plans. He allowed her to almost completely cover him and then turned into a blob himself. He allowed himself to ooze through the last opening available and quickly went back to his original form when he freed himself from her clutches. Because she had been trying to encase him, she had wrapped herself into a ball. Dragonshy put both fore hooves on the blob and grew them to the point where they were slightly bigger than the sphere she was in. He slammed both hooves together, squishing her between them. He allowed compression in his hooves and made just enough room to fit Viñyl's mass between his hooves. There was no way for her to escape and he knew it. He waited a good minute before releasing his grasp. The limp form of Viñyl fell from where he had been holding her. Instantly, the stallions ran to her aid.

Hugo looked up and asked, "What did you do?"

Dragonshy waved him off and said, "I encased her in an area that she could not transform in since it was the exact mass of her, which also did not allow any air in. She suffocated. She'll be fine in a couple of hours, except for a bad headache. What I want to know is why is she doing this."

Twilight stepped forward to try and explain, "Well we were asking her questions and, while we were talking, she began to get a little indecent with Bruno. He backed off and refused her approach saying it was neither the time nor place. She then demanded that Bruno let her finish and he felt that he had to obey so he started walking back to her. I knew he didn't want to so I encased her in a magical barrier. When I did this, she turned into that thing and broke the barrier. That's when you walked in."

Dragonshy thought for a moment and then asked, "So what do you think is her trigger?"

Twilight shrugged and said, "All we know is what you managed to get out of Captain Fear. He sends power surges through her brain and that causes her to be unable to control her urges."

Dragonshy turned to the stallions and asked, "Do any of you know something that would fix this? It would have be something that reminds Viñyl to be good. Something that she would never do anything lewd with it in mind. If we had something like that, she'd be able to control herself a little better."

The stallions though for a moment and eventually Bruno said, "How about we get..."

Hugo shook his head and interrupted, "That's a really bad idea. It could go either way."

Maxie voiced his opinion, "That's true, but I can't think of anything else."

Bruno said, "Viñyl would not be happy with us."

Hugo said, "Well if it's all we got then we have no choice."

Maxie shook his head and said, "I don't think she's even in town."

Bruno nodded saying, "You're right, she's in Canterlot."

Hugo got up and said, "I'll go right now and that way I'll be back within two days."

Bruno and Maxie both got up and nodded their approval. Hugo rushed out the door and went straight for the train station.

Dragonshy looked at the remaining stallions and asked, "Who is he going to get?"

Maxie smiled and said, "Exactly who we need."

Bruno asked, "Wait, I thought that you were going to trap Captain Fear in that thing. Why don't we just do that so that Viñyl will have the body to Herself?"

Dragonshy shook his head and explained, "I know how to get him inside here and we need the magic aura that surrounds the Changeling Palace in order to make it work. So we have to bring her with us as she is. We have to find some way of making her tolerable."

Maxie said, "Well in two day's time, that will not be an issue. Until then, we'll keep Viñyl locked up at the house. We can do our best to keep her satisfied until Hugo gets back.

Dragonshy nodded and said, "Well good luck. I'm sure that you're the best ponies for the job."

The both saluted and walked out, carrying Viñyl with them.

Dragonshy glared at Terror Tooth, who got in line beside Renegade. Knight Mare knew that Dragonshy thought to highly of her to ask her to fall in the same way, so she just got into line without being asked.

Dragonshy began to pace as he issued orders, "Alright, I appreciate that you all offered to come along. Your help will be greatly appreciated. Now, we cannot teleport there since Queen Chrysalis has a set of guards at each one of your port sites. We'll have to sneak in, which will be very difficult seeing as there is only one way in or out in the entire Capital. No matter what we do, they are going to see us coming from a mile a way. I know that we can take them as long as we prepare accordingly. You all have about forty-eight hours to prepare yourself in any way that you see fit. There are just a few things that I ask are done. Renegade, we're each going to need a single piece of armor that is alike to the necklace you made. It just needs a precious metal surrounding a previous stone. Kimmy, use the armor that he makes as a vessel for a barrier spell that we can activate at will. It can be a one-time-use, just make sure that it is strong enough to negate most spells and lasts for a minute at least. Terror Tooth, get to work on a course of attack. I need you to find the best way to go about infiltrating the Capital. Understood?"

They all saluted and said, "Sir! Yes Sir!"

Dragonshy nodded and said, "Dismissed..."

They all left to complete the tasks that they had been given. Terror Tooth went straight back to his house and began to draw up the plans. Renegade went to his forge to start on the armor. Knight Mare went to the basement and began to design the spell that they needed to be kept in their armor. Dragonshy turned to Twilight and Rainbowdash.

Rainbowdash stepped forward and saluted saying, "What are my orders?"

Dragonshy said, "Stay with Fluttershy until I get back."

Rainbowdash put her hoof down and yelled, "No way! I'm just as mad at this guy as you are! I was the one on that bed! You were just watching!"

Dragonshy surprised her by bringing her in to a strong hug and whispering to her, "I know that I was watching,and it was the worst thing I had ever seen. You were in pain and you were scared but I couldn't do anything to help you. I don't want that to happen again. We are going to be going up against hundreds of trained killers and I don't want any of them to hurt you in any way. The only way for me to be sure of that is that you don't go."

Rainbowdash was listening very intently. She didn't know how to react to this. She really wanted to go and be there when the villain was justly punished for his crimes, but she also did not want to go against Dragonshy's wishes.

She sighed and glumly said, "Fine, I'll stay. But you have to spend tonight at my house."

Dragonshy smiled and said, "Thank you, I will look forward to it."

The thought suddenly hit Rainbowdash that now she had to make something to eat. She quickly said goodbye and made her way out the door. As she walked away, she was trying to decide on what to buy that would be easy for her to say that she made it.

Dragonshy thought for a moment and said, "Thinking about it now, I haven't really spoken to Fluttershy since I've gotten back. maybe I should go visit her today."

Twilight was using her magic to clean up the library when she responded, "I'm sure that she'd really like to see you."

Dragonshy decided that Twilight was right and went to visit Fluttershy.

* * *

Dragonshy had gone to visit Fluttershy and Rainbowdash was there. One thing lead to another and they all ended up eating dinner at Rainbowdash's house. Fluttershy had immediately recognized the dish that Rainbowdash had ordered from the restaurant in town, but she decided not to say anything and let Rainbowdash feel good about the dinner that she had 'prepared'. Rainbowdash and Fluttershy had taken this opportunity to talk to Fluttershy about Rainbowdash staying with her until Dragonshy went back. Fluttershy readily agreed which excited Rainbowdash to no end. They all decided that, since it was going to be their last night together for a little while, that they would all go to bed together like they had done before. They all cuddled up together and quickly fell asleep.

* * *

Renegade had went straight to his forge to work on the armor. This was going to be his first time making anything like armor and he was still learning how to be a blacksmith, he was a little worried that he was not going to be able to make the armor in time for them to leave. Renegade thought for a moment and realized that Dragonshy had not specified what piece of armor that it had to be. Renegade decided that he was going to make a set of bracers for everypony. He was glad that there had already been a blacksmith that had lived there before him. There were so many unrefined metals that Renegade had an abundance of every metal and stone that one could imagine. He had moved most of the more commonly used ones to be right by his side at the forge. Renegade had gone down to the basement and got the appropriate amount of gold to do what he needed. He selected the emeralds that he was going to use and began to shape the molds while the metals were melting.

* * *

Terror Tooth was at his house. He was trying to draw up a satisfactory assault plan to get into the Capital. The only problem was, he had been the pony that had designed the front gate and guard postings. When he had designed it, he constantly tried to figure a way through it. If he could figure a way through it, then he would completely scrap the idea and work fresh. This system was painstakingly effective. As far as he was concerned, there was no way for anypony to get through that gate without being noticed. Terror Tooth decided that it would be unavoidable to fight their way through. He scrapped the very idea of infiltration peacefully. He starts designing the proper charge into the crowd.

Terror Tooth was staring very intently on his design of the entrance when he heard, "What's that?!"

Terror Tooth nearly jumped out of his seat. He spun around and found Pinkiepie behind him.

He leaned back, allowing her to see, and said, "I'm trying to figure out the best way in through the gate that I built."

Pinkiepie pointed to another paper on his desk and asked, "What's that one?"

Terror Tooth gave it to her and said, "That one's the diagram of their military formation all the way ta the palace. I can't figure out a good way through them."

Pinkiepie pulled a paintbrush out of her hair and began painting on the paper.

Terror Tooth looked over her shoulder and said, "You're a genius! That would get us through without much conflict at all. How did you figure that out?"

Pinkiepie held up the paper and said, "I don't know what you're talking about, I was just connecting the dots."

Terror Tooth laughed and said, "Well my job is over if you wanted to play a game."

Pinkiepie pulled a box out of nowhere. Terror Tooth looked at it and gulped as her read the name of the game 'Twister'. He hated Twister since he was so bad at it. But he was going to suck it up and play since Pinkiepie wanted to.

* * *

Knight Mare was already ready for Renegade to call her. She quickly became impatient and flew to Renegade's forge. She was waiting for him to finish so that she could use the armor he was making.


	46. Chapter Forty Six-Final Preparations

**I've got some bad news, everybody. A few days ago, when I was answering PMs and reviews, my computer overheated to the point of melting some pieces of the motherboard. I tried taking it to get fixed but they just said that I am going to have to replace it. I do not have the money to replace my computer so I spent all of today and yesterday trying to find out a way of posting new chapters. Which brings me here, to my library. Bad news is, I may not be able to post chapters as frequently as you are used to. Good news is, I will be posting earlier in the day. I'm sorry for any inconveniences that this may have caused. Anyway, enjoy chapter forty six!**

**-Tammo Woodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Six-Final Preparations**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Dragonshy was very happy. He had woken up in the warmth of Rainbowdash and Fluttershy' s bodies, just as he had done when he was last in Ponyville. Rainbowdash and Dragonshy went outside to stretch while Fluttershy started making breakfast for all of them. The exercise turned into a race to see who could fly around Ponyville and get back to Rainbowdash's house first. Rainbowdash won in the end. Dragonshy decided that he had only lost because she had gone supersonic while he did not feel like breaking the sound barrier so early in the morning. He tried to explain that to Rainbowdash but she wouldn't by it. They playfully argued all the way to the kitchen and then enjoyed a wonderful summer salad that Fluttershy had made. Dragonshy especially liked it since it had been the first time that he was getting a chance to spend time with them since he got back to Ponyville.

Dragonshy decided to go and check up on everypony to make sure that all of their jobs were going well. he started with Viñyl's house. He walked up and knocked on the door.

All he heard in response was two ponies talking inside, "Who's at the door?... Nothing I mean nopony's at the door... Oh I coulda sworn that I 'eard somepony knock on the door... Oh no, that was just me. I fell over... Are ya ok?... yeah, I'm fine and Maxie is eating in the kitchen if you want to join him... Alright."

After a moment, Dragonshy heard a whisper from the other side of the door that said, "Alright, Dragon, we've got everything under control. We've figured it out. Captain Fear only uses the power he had over her when it would most inconvenience her. With nopony around except for us and her, we can meet any advances that she makes. In fact, i think that we've sacred Captain Fear a bit. When he uses it around us and makes her get all freaky, we just roll with it and do what we always do with her. She likes it but Captain Fear absolutely hates it, so now he doesn't do anything around us. As long as we can keep all other ponies away, we can control her. I know that it isn't the best solution, but it will have to do until Hugo gets back."

Dragonshy whispered back, "Alright, I'll meet him at the train station and then bring him here. Until then, good luck."

As soon as he had said this, the door was swung open and Viñyl stood in the doorway. Luckily, Dragonshy had his incredibly quick reflexes and reaction time to save him. As soon as he noticed the door opening so fast, he melted himself down and melded with the shadow of the house. By the time Viñyl had made it to the doorway, Dragonshy was no where to be seen.

Viñyl turned to Bruno and said, "What were doin' crouched at the door like that?"

Bruno smiled meekly and said, "Fixing the creek that the door made when it moved."

Viñyl smiled and said, "Oh good. I was not lookin' forward ta doin' that myself. Come 'n have some breakfast before ya do work like that."

When the door closed again, Dragonshy returned returned to his normal form and took a moment to catch his breath. Not only had he been worried about Vinyl coming after him, changing into a shadow like that was really hard to do and took a lot of energy and concentration to maintain. Dragonshy was normally out of breath after a transformation. Partial transformations aren't so bad, but they are still hard to do. Once he rest long enough, he decided to head down to Terror Tooth's house and see if he had come up with anything for a battle plan.

* * *

That night had been an eventful one for Terror Tooth. He and Pinkiepie had played Twister for maybe five minutes before Terror Tooth fell and knocked Pinkiepie over. Pinkiepie landed on top of him and their night took off from there. They spent the night on the Twister mat but played no more Twister. At some point in the night, Pinkiepie fell asleep from exhaustion if from nothing else. Terror Tooth didn't normally fall asleep but, when they were done, he felt so at peace that he allowed himself to drift into the sweet bliss of slumber. Terror Tooth woke up and was delighted to see Pinkiepie next to him. Terror Tooth sat up and stretched a bit before laying back down and turning to look back at where Pinkiepie had been. He was startled to see that she was no longer there. He looked around and heard a sound come from the kitchen. He walked in to find Pinkiepie holding a plate of pancakes on her head.

Terror Tooth blinked a couple times and rubbed his eyes to make sure that his eyes were not playing tricks on him then asked, "Good mornin' Pinkie, I thought ya were asleep."

Pinkiepie smiled and said, "I was. But then I woke up when you started stretching."

Terror Tooth was confused, "How did you cook those so fast if you just got up seconds ago?"

Pinkiepie walked over to the table, tipped her head forward so that the plate slid onto the table, walked to Terror Tooth, and asked, "Does it matter? Don't they look great?! And I have hot sauce!"

It took all of Terror Tooth's willpower not to start drooling at the sight of the home made pancakes. He quickly realized that he didn't care how she made them so fast. He only cared that she made them and she made them for him. Terror Tooth's true nature was a jittery, spasmodic, and insane freak. However, he found that when he started spending his nights talking with Pinkiepie he was feeling a bit more controlled. He wasn't jittering as much as he normally would and was able to keep his tangents to a minimum. Being the genius he was, he know full well that he was falling in love with Pinkiepie. He wanted to pounce on the pancakes and tear into them, not worrying about what anypony would think if they walked in. But now, he could feel the ambiance that was present in the room and knew that it would not be appropriate for such an action.

He smiled as warmly as he could, wiped some flour from Pinkiepie's nose, and said, "They do look delicious, thank you."

Pinkiepie giggled and turned away from him. This reaction brought him pleasure and they both sat down to eat.

Terror Tooth sighed and said, "Ya know, Draco doesn't like me. He doesn't think that ponies like me should be allowed ta breed and, quite frankly, I agree with him. I don't know what came over me last night, but I never thought I would ever do anything like that. Pinkiepie, for you, I'm willing to change. Unfortunately, I don't think that Draco will be willin' to change his opinion as well. So..."

Pinkiepie flung a piece of pancake in his mouth and said, "Don't worry! I'm really good at breaking good news to ponies. I'll tell him at the right time and, until then, I'll make sure he doesn't find out."

As if on cue, they heard a knock on the door and Terror Tooth knew that it would be Dragonshy checking to make sure that he was holding up his end of the plan. Terror Tooth panicked slightly but looked at Pinkiepie who had gotten up and began to walk towards the door.

He was about to ask her what she was doing but she talked before he did in a whisper, "Don't worry. I know what to do. This always works."

When Dragonshy got to Terror Tooth's house, he knocked on the door. Nopony answered so he knocked again. After the second knock, he was very surprised to see Pinkiepie answer the door.

Pinkiepie greeted him excitedly, "Good Morning, Dragon. Did you sleep well?"

Dragonshy could not focus until he asked, "What are you doing at Terror Tooth's house?"

Pinkiepie looked at him as if he were some crazy pony and said, "What are you talking about? This is my house. Terror's house is right next door over there."

Dragonshy thought about it. he had been so sure that this was the house that Terror Tooth had moved in to. Dragonshy could not believe that he mixed up such vital information. What surprised him even more was when he looked at the specified, it was Pinkiepie's house.

Dragonshy tuned back to Pinkiepie and asked, "Isn't that your house?"

Pinkiepie rolled her eyes and said, "No, Silly, that's Terror Tooth's house. If you don't believe me, then I'll go in with you."

Dragonshy allowed Pinkiepie to pass him and just followed her to the house that he had thought had been hers. Pinkiepie opened the door, walked in, closed the door, and did not come back out. After ten minutes of waiting, Dragonshy fell asleep. Ten minutes after that, Dragonshy woke up. He looked around as he tried to remember what he had been doing before he had dozed off. When he remembered that he had been there to check on Terror Tooth, he knocked on the door of the house he had been sleeping in front of.

Pinkiepie answered the door and said, "Good morning, Dragon! Did you sleep well?"

Dragonshy was completely confused and just asked, "Pinkie? I'm looking for Terror Tooth."

Pinkipie looked at him like he was crazy and said, "Well he's not here. You should check his house! I don't think he's gone anywhere yet."

Dragonshy stared at her and said, "I thought that this was his house."

Pinkiepie asked, "Who told you that?"

Dragonshy was beginning to get annoyed, "You did."

Pinkiepie shook her head and said, "Nope, I think that I would have remembered telling you the wrong house."

Dragonshy massaged his forehead with his hoof and said, "Ok, thank you."

He walked away and knocked on the door of the house that he had thought he had already been to, Terror Tooth answered promptly after the first knock, and Dragonshy asked, "What was Pinkiepie doing at your house?"

Terror Tooth decided to trust that Pinkiepie had been able to cover for them and pretended like he didn't know what Dragonshy was talking about, "Sir? Pinkiepie has never been inside the house."

Dragonshy looked around the room and his eyes rested on the Twister mat in the middle of the room, "What's that?"

Terror Tooth said, "Oh well... I found it in my closet and decided to give it a try. It's a mat for Twister."

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "Well, I'd rather something so colorful not be in the room while I'm talking to you. Come on, I'll help you put it away."

Dragonshy leaned over to pick up the mat in his teeth and Terror Tooth tried to stop him in time, "Wait!"

It was too late. Dragonshy had already grabbed it. He held it in his mouth for a moment and then spit it out.

He let his tongue hang out and asked, "It's all sticky and tastes weird. What is on that thing?"

Terror Tooth rubbed the back of his neck, doing his best not to laugh, and said, "It's a lot harder than it looks, sir. I got all sweaty 'n it was covered in it."

Dragonshy said, "Me visiting your house quickly dampering my good mood. Did you finish the plans?"

Terror Tooth gestured tot he desk on the other end of the room and said, "It's all there. I can get us in without losin' anypony. I'll present it when we get there. It'd be better ta make sure that Captain Fear doesn't catch wind sooner than he has to."

Dragonshy nodded and began walking out as he said, "Alright, relax here until tonight. Then come meet us at the station. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go swallow a bar of soap."

Terror Tooth knew that Dragonshy would actually go and swallow soap. After the door was slammed shut, Terror Tooth herd noises from the chimney. He walked over and Pinkiepie's head popped out.

She looked at him and asked, "Did it work?"

Terror Tooth laughed a bit and said, "Yeah. How'd ya do it?"

Pinkiepie had finished her decent and began walking to the Twister mat as she started talking, "Very Carefully," She laied down on the Twister mat and said, "Well now that you have time... I'll help you put it away if you play another round with me."

Terror Tooth bit his lip for a moment and said, "Alright. I'm game."

* * *

Dragonshy, after swallowing the soap, flew to Renegade's hut. He saw Renegade shaping some metal on the anvil and landed behind him.

Dragonshy cleared his throat to announce his presence and asked, "How're they coming, Renegade?"

Renegade didn't look up from his work when he responded, "Four down, four to go. This one is the fifth. I know that I have to get these done by tonight so I worked through last night. I haven't had the time, so could you bring the finished ones to Knight Mare for me?"

Dragonshy looked at the bucket full of silver bracers. They were well crafted but were fairly simple in design. It was obvious that they were well-made by somepony who didn't know how to add fine details. The center of each of them held a good sized emerald.

Dragonshy asked, "Where do you get all the resources from?"

Renegade said, "The basement is full of it. Whoever had been here before had enough supplies stocked to keep an army maintained for a year."

Dragonshy said farewell, telling Renegade to be at the train station when the sun went down, took the bucket in his mouth, and took off for the library.

* * *

Knight Mare was with Twilight, double checking their work. The had worked together to design the enchantment and were planning on working together to place it on the armor. When Dragonshy walked in with a bucket of bracers, they were ready to get started. Twilight took the bucket and began to place the pieces where they planned on enchanting.

Knight Mare talked to Dragonshy while Twilight was busy, "We were able to design a strong barrier that bases its duration on the will of the user. The stronger they will the barrier to be there, the longer it will last. What this does is allow the enchantment to be used multiple times, as long as the user has the strength to produce it."

Dragonshy gave her a warm smile and said, "Thanks, Kimmy. I knew that I could count on you to get it done. Is there anything that I can do to help?"

Knight Mare blushed a bit and said, "Well if you could just bring the finished armor as Renegade finishes it, that would be very helpful."

Dragonshy turned around to head out and said, "Well then that's what I'll do."

With that, he was off. He began to make trips back and forth between the hut and the library. He knew that the train with Hugo on it would be back late that night. He wanted his revenge on Captain Fear as quick as possible, so he was planning on leaving right from the station.


	47. Chapter Forty Seven-Final Goodbyes

**Hey guys. I feel really bad about how this all turned out. I'm still not any closer to getting a new computer, so the library is all I've got. I have been going to the library after work but it closes pretty early and I am only allowed to use the computer for thirty minutes at a time. It takes two to three hours to write the stories that I have been coming out with. I hate that it has been so long since my last update and I hope that you all aren't too mad. So I want to offer a compromise. Either you wait the same amount of time that you just waited between updates or have a slightly shorter waiting period in exchange for a slightly shorty chapter. I have been writing 2,000+ words each chapter (or at least trying to). If we were to shorten the stories then they would be 1,000+ or probably closer to 1,500. Just PM me what you think. Any advice would help since this is quite a huge problem for me. Anyway, enjoy chapter forty seven!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Seven-Final Goodbyes**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

The sun was going down, so all of the ponies that were going on the adventure to the Changeling Capital began to head to the train station to meet up with Hugo. Terror Tooth left his house and began walking down the road to the train station,  
Just as he began down the road, he heard somepony call for him, "Terror Tooth! Wait up!"

Terror Tooth stopped and looked over his shoulder to see Pinkiepie hopping towards him. He liked the way that she hopped wherever she went. It showed that she was excited to do whatever it was that she was going towards. He stopped to wait for her to catch up with him. She had a present box in her mouth.

Terror Tooth asked her, "Whatchya got there, Pinkie?"

Pinkiepie attempted to talk with the present in her mouth but Terror Tooth couldn't understand her so he asked, "What?"

She dropped the present and said, "I found these last year but I didn't need them so I threw them in the closet. I just remembered them last night so I went on the long adventure through my closet to find them again. There were so many things in my closet that it was really hard. I found shoes, balloons, confetti, cannons, pools, piñatas, candy,costumes, eye patches, bouncy balls, whistles, noise makers..."

Terror Tooth interrupted her as best as he could without sounding rude, "Wow that's a lot of stuff! So what is this exactly?"

Pinkiepie blinked a couple times as if she were coming out of a trance before she answered excitedly, "It's for you!"

Terror Tooth was very surprised. He had never gotten a gift before, aside from the free drink from Renegade sometimes. Terror Tooth opened the box and stared in awe at what lay there.

Pinkiepie said, "I didn't know what it was at first either, I had to bring it to Rainbowdash and..."

Terror Tooth, eyes wide, said, "They're wing guards!"

Pinkiepie's smile broadened and she said, "Yes sir! I hope they're the right size. I figured they would come in handy on your adventure."

Terror Tooth knew all too well what they were. Wing guards were very expensive pieces of armor. They were so expensive because they were so hard to make. They were multiple slabs of metal that were carefully layered on top of each other into the shape of a pegasus wing. They were put together in such a way that allowed the pegasus to maintain complete mobility in their wings while keeping them fully protected. Most wing guards were also enchanted to be able to block weak spells as well. Terror Tooth had always wanted a pair for himself, but the only Changeling that was allowed to have any in the military was the best areal fighter in the military. That title had always belonged to Draco with Terror Tooth being a close second. Unfortunately, second was not enough to earn the armor. Dragonshy had never worn them. he said that they were too uncomfortable and heavy. These particular wing guards were dark purple with gold edges. Pinkiepie helped Terror Tooth put them on.

Terror Tooth turned sideways and asked excitedly, "Well? How do I look?!"

Pinkiepie smiled and said, "You look like you're ready for battle!"

They began to walk down the road together.

After a moment of silence, Pinkiepie said, "So I've been thinking. The best thing for you to do is to earn Dragonshy's respect. That way, he will not be so upset when he finds out about us."

Terror Tooth shook his head as he asked, "And how do you propose that I do that?"

Pinkiepie said, "Well Dragonshy is a really serious pony. I mean he doesn't really like my jokes. He just laughs at them to be nice. I think that he just tolerates me because I am a friend of Rainbowdash and Fluttershy. I also get the feeling that he only tolerates you because you are friends with Renegade."

Terror Tooth looked to the sky in thought as he responded, "There's a lot of truth ta that. That still doesn't explain how ta get Draco ta like me."

Pinkiepie cheerfully said, "Well that's easy. Stop acting like you don't know anything. Nopony talks like that."

This caught Terror Tooth completely by surprise. The only reason the others knew that he was acting like he didn't know anything was because he had told them and they had seen that he was a master strategist.

Clearing his throat, he said, "What about Viñyl? She talks like that."

Pinkiepie laughed a bit before replying, "Like I said, nopony actually talks like that. Vinyl only talks like that for appearances. She wants to be seen as a DJ off the streets. She actually grew up in Canterlot but she wants ponies to think that she was raised on the streets of Las Pegasus. There aren't too many ponies that she talks to regularly though. Only the ponies that she really cares about."

Pinkiepie put a hoof on Terror Tooth's shoulder and said, "Just try showing them who you really are. You don't need to hide it."

She kissed him on the cheek and began to hop away.

Before he could continue, she called back to him, "Hurry back! I'll throw a party for you!"

With that, she went on her way. Terror Tooth smiled to himself. He knew that she would definitely throw a party for him. The entire trip to the train station, he was thinking about what Pinkiepie had said. He had never considered acting normal for ponies. He had always thought that it was the best strategy to make everypony else think that he was not as smart as he actually was. He thought maybe Pinkiepie was right. Maybe he could earn Dragonshy's respect by acting a little more seriously.

* * *

Renegade was taking a nap when the sun went down. He had worked non-stop for twenty-four hours in order to make sure that he got the Armor done in time. He had finished with a few hours to spare. He had decided to take a nap and asked Applejack to wake him up. Applejack had come to check on him just as he had finished and asked if there was anything that she could do to help. He had yawned, stretched and told her that he didn't need anything but she just smiled warmly and told him to get some shut eye. So he stored the metal that he didn't use and fueled the furnace so that it stayed lit the entire time that he would be sleeping.

Renegade felt a gentle nudge and heard, "Hey there, Sugarcube. It's sundown. Ya'll should be headin' out."

Renegade rolled over and grumbled, "Give me another five minutes."

He heard another voice, that of an old mare, "If'n a mare tells ya ta get up, ya get up. No ifs, ands, or buts 'bout it."

Renegade turned back over and opened his eyes to find Applejack and Granny Smith standing at his bedside.

Renegade sat up, rubbed his head, and said, "I don't remember asking you to come wake me up, Granny."

Granny Smith closed one eye and glared at him with the other as she said, "Now you listen here, sunny. If ya think I'm going to let me dear Applejack come to a stallions place after dark by herself, then ya might be a few eggs short of a dozen."

Applejack nudged her Granny playfully and said, "Now Granny, that's not what ya cam 'ere for. Ya wanted ta give somethin' ta old Renegade here."

Granny Smith's eyes widened in realization and she smiled playfully as she said, "Oh yeah! I did!"

Granny Smith then bent her head down to pick something off the floor. Her head reemerged with a dark brown stetson in her mouth.

She placed it on the bed in front of Renegade and said, "That was my Uncle Crab Apple's hat. He's the one that lived in this hut before. He would live out here, fix up our tools, and help us at the barn any time we needed it. Above all, he was here to protect us from the Timber Wolves and other dangerous animals that come from the Everfree Forest. I figured, since ya live here now and you've been fixing our tools and your going on an adventure to help your friend, then you should have it."

Renegade looked at the old hat in disbelief before saying, "I don't know what to say."

Applejack took the hat, placed it on his head, and said, "Ya say thank you and that you'll be back to help us paint the barn. Then your gunna head out to meet everypony else at the station."

Renegade jumped out of bed, went to the doorway, looked back at the two mares, and said, "Thanks for the hat. I'll be back in time to help you with the barn."

With that, he took off for the train station.

* * *

Knight Mare found that she quite liked Twilight. She was hard working, dedicated, smart, organized, and an excellent magic-user. Knight Mare had designed the original enchantment for the armor, but Twilight had caught several errors in the spell. They had worked together to buff out all the bugs and were able to produce an acceptable enchantment. When it finally came to be sunset, they had finished all of the armor just on time. They were both exhausted but happy to be done. Dragonshy was there and offered to help carry the heavy armor to the train station. Of course, the two mares agreed and set him on his way with two loaded saddlebags.

Knight Mare was about to leave but turned to address Twilight once more before she did, "Thank you for all your help, Twilight. Without you, that spell would not be nearly as good as it is now."

Twilight blushed a bit and said, "Well I'm just glad to offer some assistance to my new friends. Good luck on your journey. Oh wait! I think I might have something for you."

Twilight went into the closet and came back with an old box. Knight Mare observed its contents and saw that it was an amulet of some sort.

Twilight explained, "Princess Celestia gave me this amulet when I became her student. She called it the training trinket but I did some research and found that it is actually a charm that boosts a unicorn's natural ability to channel their magic. I don't need it anymore to do my research so I think that it would be best for you to use it on your adventure."

Knight Mare allowed Twilight to fasten the amulet around her neck as she said, "Thank you, Twilight."

Twilight held her chin in the air as she responded, "No thanks necessary. Just be sure to come back safe and sound. You've been a great help around here."

A voice could be heard coming from the kitchen, "And what am I? Chopped liver?"

Spike came into view as he walked through the doorway to enter the main room that they were standing in. He was wearing a pink apron with a heart on it. Knight Mare and Twilight both looked at each other and laughed. They said their goodbyes and Knight Mare took her leave as Twilight apologized to Spike.

* * *

Dragonshy struggled with the heavy bags that he was carrying. He slowly made his way to the train station. He was halfway there when he heard Knight Mare calling him from behind. He stopped and watched the dark unicorn make her way towards him.

When she caught up, they resumed as Knight Mare said, "Those bags look pretty heavy. Are you sure that you don't want me to carry one for you?"

Dragonshy smiled and said, "These things? Light as a feather."

As he said this, he enlarged the muscles in his legs just enough to relieve him of the enormous effort that he was putting in to carry the bags. They both laughed and continued. It was not long before Dragonshy heard somepony else calling him. He stopped and turned to see Rainbowdash racing towards him. She was moving fast, but Dragonshy's keen eye saw the angry glare that she was giving him. He reacted fast. He dissolved into a dark mist, allowing the bags to drop to the floor. He re-animated himself just to the side of where he had been originally standing. He grew his fore-leg and put it in Rainbowdash's path, catching her in mid air. He pulled her in to him and held her close.

Dragonshy said calmly to her, "Where are you going so fast?"

Rainbowdash's face turned red. She shook her head and pushed herself away from him. As she did this, Fluttershy had caught up and landed near her. Knight Mare stood behind Dragonshy.

Rainbowdash glared at him and said, "You were about to leave without saying goodbye again!"

This caught Dragonshy by surprise. He had been expecting to leave and he had not thought about saying goodbye to Rainbowdash and Fluttershy one more time. He cursed himself for being so inconsiderate. he knew that he was never very thoughtful towards other ponies, but that was something that he was hoping to change for the sake of Rainbowdash and Fluttershy.

Fluttershy nudged Rainbowdash to the side and said, "Oh, Rainbowdash. You don't have to be so stern."

Dragonshy sighed and said, "No, she's right. I should have taken the time to say goodbye to you two before I left. It's only right since its not for sure that I will make it back."

This statement seemed to frighten Fluttershy and Rainbowdash. Dragonshy immediately smacked his hoof against his face. He knew he should not have said that.

Worriedly, Fluttershy asked, "What do you mean?"

Dragonshy did his best to mend the situation, "Well I mean... we're going to be attempting to break into the Changeling Capital Catacombs and well... um..."

Dragonshy could see all too well that this was not helping the matter, so he sighed and said, "Never mind what I just said. I will come back, for you and Rainbowdash. We're going to punish Captain Fear for what he's done and bring everypony back safe and sound. Just remember that you two are my strength. As long as you keep believing in me, I will be able to overcome anything that they are able to throw at us. So you stay safe while I'm gone, ok?"

As he finished, he kissed Fluttershy on the forehead.

Fluttershy blushed and backed away as she said, "Don't worry, we'll be here waiting for you."

Dragonshy turned to Rainbowdash. When he did, she panicked, blushed and looked at the ground. Dragonshy approached her and lifter her head with his hoof.

He said, "You'll stay safe for me, right?"

Rainbowdash looked at him and said, "You first."

Dragonshy let out a small chuckle before kissing her on the forehead as well.

The three waved goodbye as they went their separate ways. Dragonshy walked a little ways before realizing that Knight Mare had disappeared. He felt bad for Knight Mare. They had been together when he was int eh Capital and now he had somepony else. She still loved him but she was willing to let Dragonshy go, for his own sake.

* * *

When Dragonshy got to the train station, he saw that everypony was there already. Renegade asleep on a bench with his stetson over his eyes. Terror Tooth was sitting up on the roof, sucking on his fore leg which was probably bleeding from him biting it. Knight Mare was at the counter, purchasing the tickets that they needed to get to Appaloosa. Bruno, Maxie and Viñyl were sitting on a bench together. Viñyl was laying down with her head resting against Bruno's side.

Maxie was the first to notice Dragonshy, "Hey there, Dragonshy."

Viñyl jumped awake at the sound of Dragonshy's name and said, "Quick, Bruno."

Bruno instantly slapped a piece of tape over her mouth before addressing Dragonshy, "She is finally aware of what Captain Fear is doing. She fights it off as best as she can but around some particular ponies, she can't help herself. You should be flattered."

Dragonshy rolled his eyes and asked, "When is Hugo getting here?"

Bruno shrugged before he answered, "Any moment now."

When Terror Tooth noticed Dragonshy was there, he ceased his habit and jumped off the roof. He made his way to the group and, on the way there, he kicked the wall next to Renegade to wake him up. The two of them joined everypony else.

Knight Mare approached the group and asked, "So why exactly did Hugo have to go to Canterlot?"

Viñyl glared at Bruno. She was anxious to hear the answer.

Bruno began to sweat, he gulped, and answered, "Well he went to get an old friend of Viñyl's. Somepony who Viñyl would never act indecent around."

Viñyl's eyes widened and she pounced on Bruno. She trying to yell something but the tape on her mouth muffled it beyond recognition. Bruno was knocked flat on his back and Viñyl went on to grab him by his chest hair as she shook him frantically.

Maxie acted fast. He rushed to Bruno's aide by pulling Viñyl off of him and holding her back.

With Viñyl still swinging madly at him, Bruno explained, "We knew that she would not agree with this idea. So we didn't tell her what Hugo was doing or where he was going. The thing is, she's loved this pony ever since she met them. But she doesn't want to ruin the great friendship that they have so she acts with the utmost decency around them. We knew that Viñyl wouldn't want to put them in any danger by bringing them here when she could lose control at any moment. But this was the best plan we could come up with."

Dragonshy held a hoof in the air, shook his head, and said, "Are saying that there are two things that could happen? Either her fear of losing this pony keeps her from doing anything drastic, or she totally loses control and has her way with them?"

Bruno cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, "Well uh... Yeah. That about sums it up."

The train that Hugo was on had just gotten to the platform.

Dragonshy sighed and said, "Alright everypony, listen up. Since we don't know what's going to happen, be ready to restrain Viñyl if she presents a threat to the pony that arrives with Hugo. Got it?"

They all nodded their understanding.

They all approached the door to the train with Viñyl and Bruno at the front. Just before the doors opened, Bruno spun Viñyl around and ripped the tape off her mouth.

Viñyl was stunned momentarily from the pain of the tape being ripped away but recovered quickly, "What were you thinking?! I don't want her here! There's no telling..."

A soft voice came from the doorway to the train, "Vinyl?"

Viñyl gulped, turned around quickly and greeted her old friend, "Octavia!"

Standing in the doorway, with Hugo standing behind her, was a gray earth-pony. She had a dark gray mane and wore a pink bow on her neck. Everypony watched Viñyl in anticipation. A moment of silence went by, but nothing happened.

Octavia rushed forward and wrapped her fore legs around Viñyl as she said, "Vinyl, Hugo explain everything to me. I was so worried that I cancelled my gig and came with him straight here. Are you ok?"

Viñyl was quiet for a moment but Octavia did not let go. Dragonshy tensed his muscles in preparation for something to happen, but nothing did.

After another moment, Viñyl returned the hug and exclaimed, "Octavia! I knew that you'd be able to save me, I just knew it!"

Dragonshy let out a sigh of relief before saying, "Alright, everypony on the train. Knight Mare, did you already give the conductor our tickets?"

Knight Mare answered quickly, "Of course. We can all go in now."

One-by-one, they all piled into the train. They were finally ready to give Captain Fear the punishment that he deserved.


	48. Chapter Forty Eight-Final Journey

**Guys, let me start out by saying that I am so sorry that it had to turn out this way. I did everything that I could to try and prevent this from happening. What I am referring to is the fact that I am going on a lengthy vacation for the next two and a half weeks. I will be camping in the rocky mountains so there will be no possible way for me to update at all. I had been hoping to finish the story before I left but since I had that whole computer problem, I was unable to. I borrowed my friend's computer today to try and do it but I was only able to finish this chapter and half of the next one. I'm sorry again but this is the last you'll be getting for almost three weeks. Enjoy chapter forty-eight!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Eight-Final Journey**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

Everypony that was going to the Changeling Capital was in the train. They were in the dining cart, enjoying their last meal before they went into battle. Renegade and Terror Tooth talked among each other in their own booth. Dragonshy and Knight Mare were going over Terror Tooth's plan of infiltration. Viñyl and Octavia were happily talking to each other, each wanting to hear all about what the other had been doing since last time they had gotten together. The stallions sat at their own table, playing cards.

It was not that long of a train ride, about twelve hours. Dragonshy had recommended that they all get a good eight hours sleep to make sure that they were all well rested for the excitement to come. Viñyl, being used to staying up late and barely getting any sleep at all, convinced Octavia to stay up with her for a couple hours after they should have gone to rest.

Not being as good at staying up, Octavia finally went to bed, "Well Dragonshy said we should get some sleep. Promise me you won't stay up for too much longer."

Viñyl waved her hoof in the air, dismissing the request, "Yeah, I won't stay up too late."

Octavia gave Viñyl a sly smile before adding, "Well good, then I'll be taking your bits to the room with so you don't lose them."

Before Viñyl could argue, Octavia left and took all of her drinking money with her. Viñyl laughed to herself. Octavia knew her too well.

Viñyl went to the bar, got the attention of the bar tender, and said, "Hey there, Jim. How's my tab lookin' 'ere."

The bar tender turned to see who was talking and gave a friendly smile when he recognized the pony that was addressing him, "Clean as a whistle, Viñyl. You want the usual then?"

As he asked, he already started to make Viñyl's complicated drink and tried to make small talk, "So what are you heading to Appaloosa for? I thought that they didn't like your music."

Viñyl took the drink and sipped it cheerfully before answering, "Well, ya know me. I'll keep bustin' down their door 'til they let me in."

Jim laughed and said, "That's why you're successful, you won't take no for an answer."

He left her alone to serve Renegade and Terror Tooth, who had just taken their seats a little further down at the bar. Viñyl Took her time to finish her drink before hopping off her seat and heading for the door. She figured that it probably was a good idea to get a decent amount of sleep before their big adventure. She had been in one of the dining carts and their was just one other one before she made it to the cart that their beds were in. She went into the other dining cart and immediately noticed that it was completely empty. It made sense though. Their group probably consisted of everypony that was willing to go to Appaloosa so late at night and most of them were in the other dining cart while the rest were sleeping.

Dragonshy had finished going over the plan with Knight Mare. It annoyed him to no end that Terror Tooth was able to come up with such brilliant strategies. He just didn't understand how or why somepony so smart would act so clueless. He looked up from the table just in time to see Viñyl leaving their cart.

Dragonshy asked Knight Mare, "Did you see if Octavia was with her just now?"

Knight Mare shook her head before answering but she did not look up from the battle plans that were laid out in front of her, "No, Octavia went to bed about half an hour ago."

Dragonshy sighed as he got up and grumbled, "Doesn't she realize that she cannot be walking around by herself?"

Viñyl stopped in the middle of the empty cart. She was feeling a little weird. She had a headache and she felt like she was going to faint at any moment. This confused her. She couldn't be drunk after one drink. She would normally down five or six of those before going to bed.

Then she heard a familiar voice in her head, "I thought that she'd never leave. I couldn't even charge and energy with her around. Well it's a good thing that you decided to stay for a drink. You know, alcohol is not the best thing for somepony who is trying to fight for control of their own mind."

Viñyl could not even respond. She was trying her hardest to fight back Captain Fear, but she knew that she was slowly losing this battle.

Dragonshy walked in just as Viñyl collapsed to the floor. He watched in as she started to change color and sprout wings. She was transforming into Captain Fear. Dragonshy knew that there was nothing that he would be able to do in order to stop the transformation. He instantly began to think of a way to keep anything from happening. He had to get Octavia, but it would take some time since she was in the next cart and probably asleep. he decided to get Knight Mare so that she could keep Captain Fear at bay until he could get Octavia.

Dragonshy rushed into the cart that he had just come out of and let out a loud whistle through his teeth. It got everypony's attention quite easily. Dragonshy looked to Knight Mare, they locked eyes momentarily, and Dragonshy turned to go get at Octavia.

Knowing full well that Dragonshy needed her, Knight Mare followed him. She went to the next cart and froze when she saw none other than Captain Fear himself standing in the middle of the car.

Knight Mare walked up to stand next to Dragonshy as Captain Fear began to talk, "Well hello there, Draco. Long time, no see. You're too late! I have full control over my own body now."

Dragonshy readied himself for flight as he responded, " Not for long!"

He launched himself off the floor of the train and tried to fly over Captain Fear's head. Captain Fear chuckled to himself as he put up a barrier that blocked the area Dragonshy was trying to pass through. Dragonshy hit it and was sent flying back to where he had started.

Captain Fear laughed again and said, "See that's your problem, Draco. You depend too much on your flying skill. You fail to utilize the capabilities of the Changelings. We're able to fly and use magic but you never took the time to learn any spells."

Dragonshy got up and said, "You know full well that I am not famous for my flying skills."

With that, Dragonshy transformed in the blink of an eye. one second, he was the same pony that Captain Fear hated, and then he was a fearsome Dragon that was so big that he had to hunch over to keep from hitting his head on the ceiling of the cart. Once again, Dragonshy launched himself forward. This time, when the barrier was put up, Dragonshy was able to break it easily with one swipe of his claw. Dragonshy landed behind Captain Fear, returning to his usual form.

Captain Fear turned around and began to lunge forward in an attempt to tackle Dragonshy to the ground. Knight Mare was having none of that. She teleported from where she was to stand in between the two Changelings. She then put up her own barrier to keep Captain Fear from moving another step. Captain Fear tried to stop was moving to stop to keep from touching her barrier. Her barrier was much more powerful than his so a mere touch sent him flying to the other side of the cart.

Dragonshy exited the cart and Captain Fear said, "Very nice, too bad it's all for nothing. I hate to admit it but Viñyl is very strong. She will be taking control from me shortly. I just wanted to get one thing done in the time that I have."

As he finished talking, He sent a red beam of energy into the ceiling. It passed through the ceiling without leaving any marks. Outside of the train, the beam continued until it reached a certain height. Once it was high enough, it began to form a ball of red energy. Captain Fear ceased to feed more energy into it and, when the beam was fully stored into the ball, it exploded. The explosion was very loud and very bright. It sent three waves of red energy in every direction before disappearing.

After the beam had been successfully released, Captain Fear gave a quick salute before handing control back over to Viñyl. Dragonshy got back with Octavia just in time to see him turn back into Viñyl and collapse to the floor, unconscious.

Octavia ran to her side, the door opened to reveal everypony else, and Renegade asked, "What happened in here?"

Dragonshy just looked to Knight Mare, who answered the question, "It seems as though Captain Fear managed to momentarily take control of her body. In the time that he had control, he sent out a distress beacon. That means that they'll be ready for us when we arrive."

Dragonshy rubbed his head and said, "Alright Octavia, from now on, I don't want you to leave her side. Also, somepony needs to stay with the two of them at all times. We cannot let Captain Fear have any sort of advantage. I was hoping that we might have some chance of sneaking in, but it looks like we have no other choice than to go with Terror Tooth's plan. Everypony get some rest. Time is crucial. The faster we get there, the less time they have to get themselves prepared for us. We leave as soon as the train arrives in Appaloosa. Renegade, please carry Viñyl to her bed. You take first watch. Hugo, Bruno, and Maxie will be in charge of making sure that they are watched at all times."

Everypony either went to bed or did what they were instructed. They had a big day ahead of them.

* * *

It was late in the morning when the train finally made it to Appaloosa. Everypony got off the train but were held up when Hugo said he had to go and get something from the cargo cart.

Before he had left, Dragonshy had said, "I thought I told everypony that they could only bring what they could carry in their saddlebags. Anything else is just going to slow us down."

Hugo responded with a shrug as he began to walk away, "It's not mine, it's Octavia's. She never leaves home without it."

Hugo returned shortly with a cello case strapped to his back.

Dragonshy could not believe that a cello was the item that Octavia could not leave home without so he asked, "Why did you find it necessary to bring a cello on an infiltration mission?"

Octavia stuck her nose in the air as she said, "Because I never leave home without it."

Dragonshy tried to shake off the irritation that he was beginning to feel, "Fine, but we are not slowing down. If you're bringing it, then you'd better keep up."

They group began to walk through the town. They kept on getting stares from ponies that they passed because they were all wearing the armor that Renegade had made. Dragonshy didn't care. They were not going to stay in the town for any long period of time. As they passed the town hall, a pony came out and approached Viñyl.

With slight anger in his voice, the pony addressed her, "Now Viñyl, we've told ya time and time again that we are not wanting any of that hippity hoop or whatever you're wanting playing in our town. If ya'll don't shove off, then I'm going to have to get ya'll thrown out."

Even though he was shouting at her, she still smiled back at him and responded happily, "It's good to see you again too. Don't worry about us, we won't be here for too long. We're just passing through."

The pony seemed stunned by this response and asked, "Um... How come you ain't talking funny?"

Viñyl began to walk away and cheerfully shouted back to him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

Dragonshy whispered to Hugo in the back of the group, "I think Captain Fear is trying to act like Viñyl again."

Hugo shook his head and said, "No, this is how Viñyl actually talks. She cares a lot about Octavia. Octavia is a high-class pony that would not appreciate the way that Viñyl normally talks. So Viñyl talks normal when Octavia is within ear shot."

The rest of their trek through Appaloosa was uneventful. It was a small town, so they were able to walk through it pretty quickly.

Once they were a fair distance from Appaloosa, Dragonshy turned to them to give them orders, "Alright! We need to get to the Capital as fast as we can so that they do not have that much time to set up. From here, we will be running double time. I don't care how you do it, just keep up."

As he finished, he took to the air with Terror Tooth in short pursuit. Knight Mare began to teleport short distances away at an alarming rate. The stallions were able to keep pace by running. Renegade knew that Viñyl and Octavia would not be able to keep up, so he enlarged himself enough to carry the two of them on his back.

* * *

They were running until late in the afternoon and stopped when Dragonshy called a halt.

Octavia shouted from atop Renegade, "What is it? Why have we stopped?"

Dragonshy nodded toward the mountain that was directly in front of them.

Knight Mare gasped and asked, "They couldn't have already fortified it, could they?"

Viñyl was the next one to ask, "Hey! What's wrong? Is that the Capital or what?"

Dragonshy answered this time, "Yes, but the Capital is normally just a hole in the ground. They always want to keep it as invisible as possible so that civilian ponies don't accidentally find it."

Hugo asked the next question, "So why is it a mountain?"

Dragonshy gestured for Terror Tooth to come and join him as he answered, "The city is made of a special mineral. A dark crystal. This crystal generates its own magic. The Changelings learned to harness its magical properties for their own purposes. When the Changeling Capital is under attack, they use the power of the crystals that the city is made out of in order to add fortification. The city still remains deep underground but now, in order to get there, we have to navigate through the labyrinth that is within that mountain. I had been hoping to get here before they were able to put it up, but I guess we were not fast enough."

Terror Tooth began to draw in the dirt while Octavia asked another question, "So what do we do now? It doesn't seem like there is any way through there."

Renegade cheerfully responded, "Don't give up hope just yet. We have one advantage over them."

Viñyl and Octavia looked at each other, confused, before Knight Mare finished what Renegade was saying, "Terror Tooth was the one that designed the Labyrinth. He has the entire maze committed to memory. All they have are maps that were draw by none other than Terror Tooth."

Terror Tooth was focusing on drawing the map out in front of him when he chimed in, "That's right! And I made sure to add in a few access routes that are not on the map."

Hugo did not like the sound of them actually going into the mountain so he tried to suggest another way in, "Wait, can't Knight Mare teleport us into the Capital?"

he shook his head and said, "No. They know all the spots within the city that Knight mare would teleport to. No doubt they have a platoon at each one, ready to ambush us. The only way in is through the path that Terror Tooth finds for us."

Terror Tooth nodded to himself, approving of the route that he had just chosen. He began to head for the mountain.

Dragonshy looked to everypony else and said, "Alright everypony, follow Terror Tooth. Do not fall more than ten paces behind. The walls will move and try to separate us. If you feel any sort of movement, group together immediately."

The all nodded their understanding and followed the two ponies toward the mountain. They were all doing their best to mentally prepare themselves for the battle that was to come.


	49. Chapter Forty Nine-Final Infiltration

**Hey guys! I am so sorry about taking off more time than I said that I would. I went on this camping trip and one thing led to another so I ended up staying for a couple of extra weeks. Again, I am sorry to have kept you guys waiting for so long. I had planned on finishing the story before I left but, because of my computer breaking down, it did not work out like that. I hope you all understand and aren't too angry with me. Anyway, I will resume my "one chapter per day" schedule affective immediately. Also, to make it up to you guys, I borrowed my friends laptop again to work hard and make this chapter longer than most. Enjoy Chapter Forty Nine!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Forty Nine-Final Infiltration**

**By: Tammo Woodsorel**

Dragonshy's infiltration team was now at the foot of the mountain that stood between him and his revenge on Captain Fear. They had been circling it for the past twenty minutes and Dragonshy's impatience was beginning to show.

Dragonshy finally asked Terror Tooth what they were doing, "We have been walking around this mountain for the past twenty minutes. If they weren't ready for us now, then they sure will be by the time you decide to get us to the entrance."

Terror Tooth did not look at Dragonshy. He had spent the entire time staring at the side of the mountain. he took his time and examined every detail that mattered.

He was still staring at the rock face when he answered, "That's just it, Draco. There is no entrance to this mountain. The only way into the maze that lays within is to somehow blast through the outer wall. How to do that will be a question that that we will answer once I find the right spot. There are too many traps set within these walls to just go running in without thinking. We must be very precise in our attack. But you will not have to wait any longer, I've found the spot that I've been looking for. Now these walls are ten meters thick. Breaking through will require a powerful blow."

Dragonshy could not bring himself to be mad at Terror Tooth. While Dragonshy was normally annoyed to no end when Terror Tooth spoke, he had noticed that Terror tooth had not been speaking how he normally did.

Dragonshy did his best not to show how impressed he was by Terror Tooth's assessment and said, "Well give me a moment to charge up. I'll transform and then bust my way in."

A full transformation took a lot of energy. So Dragonshy would need to focus and store a bit of energy for him to make the transformation possible. The longer he stored energy, the bigger his transformation could be.

Dragonshy was about to begin his concentration when Viñyl said, "No need, Dragon. Just tell me where... exactly where."

Dragonshy looked to Terror Tooth and then to Knight Mare. Both of them just shrugged. Dragonshy just looked to Terror Tooth and nodded. Terror Tooth waved to Viñyl, telling her to follow. Viñyl jumped off Renegade's back with Octavia right behind her.

Terror Tooth tapped on the wall and said, "This would be the best place to break in. Remember, the smaller the hole, the less likely anypony is to notice."

Viñyl nodded her understanding and turned to Octavia before asking, "Octavia, did you bring a tuning fork?"

Octavia gestured to Hugo for him to come over. Hugo was the one who had been holding her cello case since they had left the train station. Hugo turned around and allowed her to fish through the exterior pocket for the tuning fork.

She pulled it out and said, "Yes, I have a B-flat right here."

Viñyl tossed her headphones to Octavia and said, "Good, put these on and hold it in front of me please."

Octavia did as was instructed. She held the tuning fork in her mouth so that it was between Viñyl and the point on the wall that Terror Tooth had specified. Viñyl planted her hooves firmly on the ground and aimed her horn directly at the tuning fork. She sent a beem of light-blue magic into the tuning fork. The tuning fork quickly vibrated and the sound of B-flat could clearly be heard by all of them. To their surprise, the sound waves on the side of the fork that was opposite of Viñyl were visible and a crack started to form on the side of the mountain.

Viñyl spoke through gritted teeth, "Knight Mare, a little help please."

Knight Mare understood. She sent her own magic at Viñyl and, instantly, Viñyl's beam increased in thickness and intensity. The beam was brighter and made the sound that the fork was creating become more prominent. On the other side of the fork, the sound waves began to coil over each other until they too became a beam that blasted the side of the mountain. The beam that was created was easily as thick as a pony was tall. It was so bright that they all had to look away from it. Viñyl was able to keep looking since she always had her sunglasses on.

When he could no longer hear the sound of the fork and he could tell that there was no more bright light, Dragonshy looked back at the rock face. He was very surprised to see a perfectly circular hole in the wall where Viñyl had hit it. He looked at the tuning fork that Octavia was still holding and saw that it had been bent and morphed.

Octavia held it there still and Viñyl said, "Sorry about that. I might have vibrated it a little too much."

Octavia slid the headphones off so that they were around her neck and placed her hoof behind her ear to show that she hadn't heard Viñyl.

Viñyl walked up and took the headphones back as she repeated herself, "I said sorry for ruining your tuning fork."

Octavia just tossed the tuning fork aside and responded with a smile, "Not to worry, I have plenty more of those back at the shop."

Terror Tooth walked up to the hole and jumped inside of it then yelled to everypony outside, "This hole is perfect. It's just big enough for us to fit through and it's perfectly circular so it will not obstruct the stability of the wall around it."

Octavia approached Viñyl and asked, "Is that another trick your dad showed you?"

Viñyl nodded and said, "Yeah, he showed me a lot of the spells that he uses when he's traveling."

Dragonshy was a bit curious, "Why does your dad need these spells when he's traveling?"

Viñyl answered as she followed everypony else into the hole, "Because the reason he travels is that he is constantly running away from the law. He uses his magic to trick the ponies that are chasing him."

Dragonshy was in the hole now and continued the conversation as they made their way through the tunnel, "Well surely, if your dad knows how to use all these spells, he could just get rid of the ponies that are after him."

Viñyl responded from in front of him, "No, he's a pacifist."

The conversation was done when they jumped out from the tunnel to find themselves in an even larger tunnel.

Dragonshy found Terror Tooth and asked, "Where are we?"

Terror Tooth looked around to confirm and answered, "We're at the exit of the maze. Because of Viñyl's precision, we were able to avoid all the traps and cut our way to the entrance of the Capital. Another half-mile walk that way should bring us to the outer gate. Now, if they followed my plans, then most of their military forces should be roaming the maze as we speak. Which means that if we can find some way of blocking this tunnel off then..."

Terror Tooth was cut off by a loud booming sound followed by the ceiling collapsing above the tunnel he had just pointed out. Dragonshy and Terror Tooth looked from the ceiling to the floor to see Viñyl looking back at them.

Viñyl gave them a smirk and said, "It's much easier in cavers, since the sound waves already bounce off all the walls."

After a quick hoof-bump between Viñyl and Octavia, they group continued through the cave system.

* * *

After a long time walking, they found the front gate. It was open and not a single Changeling could be seen at the usual guard posts. Renegade looked to Dragonshy. He knew what his role was. He was to be the bait since he was able to take a very severe beating before going down. Dragonshy nodded to him and Renegade continued on without anypony else to back him up. He walked through the front gate, past the front gate, and looked around. There was nopony there. He turned to the rest of them and waved.

When the all joined him where he was, he asked, "Isn't there supposed to be an army waiting for us?"

Terror Tooth looked very puzzled as he thought out loud, "Now that you mention it, there was actually supposed to be a group of guards at the point in the tunnel where we first came in. This isn't right. The only time that the mountain would be activated with nopony there to fight off invaders would be if the queen took the army somewhere."

This statement hit Dragonshy like a ton of bricks. He had a hunch he knew what was going on.

He looked to Viñyl and asked, "Viñyl, were you invited to Shining Armor's wedding?"

Viñyl shook her head and said, "No, they would never allow my music to be played there."

Octavia cleared her throat to get Dragonshy's attention and said, "I was invited to play at the wedding. Well somepony named Fluttershy was to play during the wedding, but I was to play at the reception."

Dragonshy asked frantically, "When was it supposed to be?! When was the wedding scheduled?!"

Octavia was slightly taken aback by Dragonshy's eagerness and quickly answered, "It's tomorrow. I had to cancel so that I could come and help Vinyl. What's wrong?"

Knight Mare finally figured it out, "I can't believe I forgot about that. The whole reason that Dragonshy left the Capital was to warn Princess Celestia of a full out invasion of Equestria during Shining Armor's wedding. With that being tomorrow, they probably all left to get to Canterlot on time. Which means that the Mountain being here had nothing to do with Captain Fear's signal. It had already been set up just as a precaution."

They all looked to Dragonshy and Renegade asked, "What do we do now? Should we head back to help them at Canterlot?"

Dragonshy shook his head and said, "No. It takes several hours to get back to Appaloosa. It takes twenty-four hours to get from there to Canterlot. By then, anything that would matter would already have happened and this entire journey would be for nothing. No, the best thing we can do is continue on with our quest and trust that they will be able to handle themselves. Luckily, I was able to warn them. So they should have taken some steps to avoid it. If we're lucky, they might have rescheduled the wedding all together."

Terror Tooth nodded his approval and said, "Draco's right. We set out to punish Captain Fear for the terrible things that he has done and that is exactly what we're going to do. This all made our job much easier. With nopony here, we can get this done quick and get back to help them in any way we can."

Dragonshy glared at Terror Tooth. He hated that the only one that agreed with him was the one that was clinically insane. But he shook his head and decided that he might as well take the help.

Renegade began to walk off as he said, "Well let's get this over with. We need to finish as soon as we can just in case anything happens."

No pony followed him and, after a moment of walking, he turned back around and asked, "Wait... Where are we going again?"

Dragonshy beckoned him to come back and then began to explain the plan to everypony, "Alright. So we are here to end the life of somepony who rightly deserves it. Currently, he is trapped within Viñyl's body. Thanks to Octavia, she has been able to suppress his advances. However, I don't know what will happen in the chamber that we are going to since I have never actually been in there before. He might grow in power and overtake her. So we will transfer him to the amulet before we enter the chamber. One he is int he amulet, we will put it on one of the ponies that have been trapped there and then kill him. Any questions?"

He paused momentarily, ready to inform his friends.

When none said anything, he said, "Alright then, follow me. We'll be heading into the palace catacombs. Once there, Knight Mare will show us to the chamber."

With that, they followed Dragonshy down the empty road of the Changeling Capital.

* * *

It did not take long before they found themselves at the back wall of the palace. Once there, Dragonshy went behind a nearby boulder and hit one of the crystals that was jutting out of it. One the crystal had been hit, a cave entrance was revealed on the side of the boulder. The stallions walked up to the opening and peered into it.

Maxie was the first to comment on what they saw, "It's just a straight fall to Celestia knows what."

Knight Mare responded from behind the group, "Don't worry, there is a magic net at the bottom to catch us. Just in case though, Dragonshy is going to fly down and make sure that the net is actually there."

He nodded and the three of them moved out of the way. Dragonshy Wasted no time before he took flight and disappeared into the hole.

They heard him shout back up to them, "There's no net!"

Knight Mare sighed and yelled back, "Catch me!"

Before anypony could stop her, she sprinted and jumped into the hole. After a moment, there was a grunt and the sound of hooves hitting the rock floor. They saw a light begin to emanate from the hole.

They then heard Knight Mare shouting up to them, "Alright! You all can jump now!"

Everypony looked at each other. None of them wanted to be the first to jump. Hugo felt a nudge on his back leg and turned to see Viñyl smiling to him. He just sighed and turned back to the hole.

He just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, here goes nothing."

Then Hugo took off and jumped in. They could hear him yelling the entire way down and, when the yelling suddenly stopped, everypony leaned forward as they waited for proof that he survived the fall.

After an intense second, they heard Hugo's voice, "It's alright everypony! It caught me just fine!"

Bruno and Maxie completely trusted their companion so they both ran forward and jumped at the same time. Renegade looked to Terror Tooth, who just nodded, and jumped down the hole as well.

Terror Tooth addressed Viñyl and Octavia next, "After you, ladies."

The nodded and walked slowly towards the hole. They both peered over and gulped. Then a thought occurred to Viñyl. With a sly smile plastered on her face, she gave Octavia a little push. It wasn't much, but it was enough to startle Octavia and send her falling over the edge.

Just before she fell, she caught a glimpse of Viñyl's mile and returned it with a smile just as mischievous as she said, "You're coming with me!"

She managed to reach out and grab Viñyl before she was out of range. With the two of them clutching each other for dear life, they plummeted as they screamed in unison. They fell until they could no longer see the light from the hole that they had just jumped through. They kept on falling as they began to see a soft purple light glowing in the distance. The glow got brighter and brighter until they finally met it. They hit it and stopped. They had both closed their eyes as they came into contact with this soft barrier. Upon opening their eyes, they saw that it had caught them just a few feet above the ground. Knight Mare looked to Dragonshy. With a nod from him, she cut her aura. The barrier disappeared and they two ponies were allowed to fall the last few feet to land on their hooves without any harm.

Dragonshy watched impatiently until he finally say Terror Tooth spiral his way into the pit.

Once he landed, he placed the viola case on the ground and said, "You left this up there. I figured that you would want it."

Octavia walked over, brushed off the case and said, "Thank you, I did need this. I can't believe I forgot it. Bruno, do you mind carrying it for me?"

Bruno nodded and took the case in his mouth. Once Dragonshy saw that all were ready, he began to lead them down the only tunnel that was there. It was not long before they made it to the end of the tunnel and were presented with a large, smooth wall.

Terror Tooth was vexed by the mysterious material that the wall seemed to be made from and asked, "This is quite an interesting material. I've never seen anything like it. Wait... Is it?"

As he spoke he touched it with his hoof. I freezing pain shot through his arm and he was forced to recoil.

Viñyl asked him, "What's up? What is it?"

Terror Tooth stared at his hoof as he answered the question, "It's water. But it's really cold, too cold to touch. How is it able to form a wall like that? It's not flowing downward at all. It's just standing."

Dragonshy looked at the wall and said, "I'm not sure how, but you're right. This is water. But it's a special kind of water from a certain place. I have no idea where it's from or what qualities it possesses since it was retrieved far before my time. I do, however, know the password that will allow us to pass through unharmed. But we all have to say it at once and pass through at once."

Viñyl asked, "Why do we all have to say it at once?"

Dragonshy shrugged and said, "Those are the rules."

Octavia asked, "So then what's the password?"

Dragonshy closed his eyes and took a deep breath as he recalled the password, "And into her own reflection she stared, yearning for one whose reflection she shared, and solemnly sweared not to be scared at the prospect of being doubly mared."

Everypony just stared at him and when he opened his eyes he got a bit defensive, "What? That's what the password is. I thought it was weird too but there are a lot of things weirder than that."

Terror Tooth thought for a moment and said, "Wait, I recognize that saying from somewhere."

Renegade was the only one that heard him as the rest of them talked to Dragonshy, "Really? Where?"

Terror Tooth put his hoof to his chin as he tried to remember where he knew this phrase from, "I don't know. I feel like I just heard it some where though, recently."

Renegade just shrugged his shoulders and said, "Oh well, it sounds like it's from an old nursery rhyme or something."

That seemed to jog Terror Tooth's Memory, "You're right. I remember now. Pinkie Pie was telling me about some of the adventures that she and her friends have had in Ponyville and one of her stories included a rhyme that her nan had told her."

Renegade just stared at Terror Tooth before commenting, "So? Why does that matter? It's not normal for you to be bringing up useless information like that."

Terror Tooth thought for a moment and said, "I don't know. There's just something telling me that there's..."

Their conversation was cut short by Dragonshy calling them, "Hey! Come on you two. We all have to line up."  
They both obeyed orders and got into line.

Once everypony was ready, Dragonshy said, "Alright, on the count of three we will begin to recite the password and then we will al step through the barrier at once. One... Two... Three..."

Together, they all stated the password and stepped through the barrier unharmed. On the other side, there was a huge room that was filled with pony's bodies standing up. They weren't dead, they were just not being used. Their minds lied dormant within their bodies. They walked a few feet forward when Dragonshy heard hoof steps behind them. He turned around and, when he saw that there was a line of ponies standing behind his group, he instantly grew out his wings to a size that would cover all of them and jumped backwards. This movement separated them from their enemies by a good ten feet.

Dragonshy could make out the shapes of ponies but did not like that he could not see their features, "Knight Mare, light!"

Knight Mare threw a star of light into the air that floated in between the two groups. Everyone gasped when they saw that they were staring at ponies that looked exactly like them.

Renegade said, "Alright... What's going on here? If you're here to stop us, then why did you have to change into us?"

Terror Tooth's eyes got wide as he finally realized what was going on, "I know what these are. Pinkiepie told me about them. There is a pond of water in the Everfree Forest that is able to create clones of ponies after they state the phrase that we spoke earlier. Each one of these ponies is our exact copies and I bet that they are here to make sure that we do no do anything with the bodies that are hidden here."

The fake Dragonshy stepped forward and said, "How surprisingly perceptive of you, Terror Tooth. Yes, we're here to keep you from doing your business as you wish. Also, after we kill you, we well all be taking you place in your lives."

Dragonshy cringed his teeth and said, "Not if I have anything to say about it!"

With that, the two pegasi took off and began to clash in the air above the groups. The clones took this opportunity to lead the charge and take the originals by surprise. They tried to fight in a group but the clones made sure to split them all up so that they were fighting one on one.


	50. Chapter Fifty-Final Battle

**Hey guys! Alright, I always feel the need to apologize whenever I make you wait a while for my next chapter. Obviously I still don't have a computer, nor am I getting one any time soon. So you'll just have to bear with me here. Thank you all for your patience. Enjoy Chapter Fifty!**

**-TammoWoodsorel**

**A Great Change: Chapter Fifty-Final Battle**

**By: TammoWoodsorel**

The clash of the two Dragonshy's was a sight to behold. They rammed into each other at speeds that were so great that the resulting crash vibrated the entire cavern. They did not seem to mind though since they would gust circle around and do it again. It was a stalemate. They each had the same strength, abilities, speed, fighting style, etc. The real Dragonshy had never known himself to be pushed this far by an opponent. He had always been able to dispose of his opposition quite easily. Facing somepony of his own skill level was proving to be difficult. He knew all of the tricks that the other Dragonshy would attempt and was able to counter them but, at the same time, the other Dragonshy would counter his own attempts at victory. It was a fight that had no end in sight. Dragonshy decided that he could not just ram him head on anymore and took to aerial acrobatics. His next turnaround, he added a high-velocity spin and allowed his body to morph with the air current which gave him a more aerodynamic assault. The clone saw this with ease and dove downward to avoid the attack. Using his own downward velocity, he ascended to attack Dragonshy from underneath. Dragonshy had been expecting this reaction and broke his form just in time throw a kick at the approaching foe. The clone reacted at the last moment by evaporating into a black cloud and then re-forming over Dragonshy's legs. When he had completed his transformation, he was holding on very tightly to Dragonshy's hind legs. The clone rose his hoof to break the legs but Dragonshy was having none of that. He melted his body and forced his gelatinous form to engulf the phony. Dragonshy's clone grew very large briefly and shrunk himself down too fast for Dragonshy to match. With Dragonshy spread thin, the clone busted out and looked back as Dragonshy returned to his usual form. They both hovered there for a short while. They were both exhausted. To change form so many times in quick succession took its toll on both of them. Dragonshy knew that they both only had one transformation left in them and he knew exactly what the other one would choose. It was generally easy to change and maintain a form that he was used to changing into. So, with a short burst of energy, they both transformed into dragons. The ceased their flying and both landed on the ground within reach of each other. Once on the ground, Dragonshy wasted no time in slapping the clone in the face with his tail and proceeding to put him in a headlock. The clone would not be outdone and sank his teeth into Dragonshy's arm. The pain caused Dragonshy to release his grip. The clone took the opportunity to throw a few quick punches into Dragonshy's gut. Dragonshy eventually managed to reach one wing over and block the onslaught. Then he used his arm for extra strength to force the clone backward. Using the element of surprise, Dragonshy moved his wing from covering his face to reveal a mouth full of fire. He torched the clone and then went in for a headbutt. The clone had the wind knocked out of him but managed to put Dragonshy into a headlock and force him to the ground. From then on, it was a mess of scratching, biting, and grappling with no winner in sight.

* * *

Terror Tooth had time to get a good look at the clones. They were all exactly alike to each other except for Dragonshy's and Viñyl's. Dragonshy's clone was in Changeling form while Dragonshy was remaining in his pony form. Viñyl's clone was also in Changeling form, but not just any Changeling. Viñyl's clone looked exactly like Captain Fear. Terror Tooth quickly pieced together the clues and came to the conclusion that this was because Viñyl's body was not actually Viñyl's body, it was Captain Fear's body. But there was something wrong with Viñyl's clone other than that. It was on the ground, forcing its eyes shut, with its hooves over its head. It seemed to be in a lot of pain. His thoughts were interrupted by the two Dragonshy's taking off for combat. There was just a short instant to react before the other clones set on their counterparts. Terror Tooth saw his clone speeding towards him with its dangerously long claws outstretched. Terror Tooth extended his own claws and blocked the attack by flipping his opponent over his head. The clone landed without taking any damage and they both stood staring at each other. The only difference between the two was the the clone was wearing the crazed blood-lust grin that he knew all too well.

Terror Tooth knew that only a clone would have the answers that he was looking for and decided to try and talk to his clone, "You seem a bit more mad than me, I thought you were supposed to be exact copied."

At the end of his sentence, he managed to narrowly dodge a quick swipe from his clone and jump backward.

The clone stared, licked his lips, and said, "We're s'posed ta be. But dere was a magic placed over the water by da queen 'erself."

The clone ended his statement with a dash forward, followed by an attempt to bite Terror Tooth's leg. Terror Tooth jumped up and flew away with the clone in close pursuit. The Clone caught up and swiped at him again but he did a short barrel roll and swiped back. The clone dashed backward to avoid the attack and stared at Terror Tooth.

Terror Tooth still wanted answers, "What sort of magic was placed on the water? What does it do?"

The clone seemed happy to answer, "Rather th'n copyin' both physical 'n mental traits, this water only copies da physical traits perfectly. Da mental traits r' copied but den it da magic exposes somethin' from each pony. It feeds dat pony's darkest mentality 'n forces the clone ta act on it."

Terror Tooth was ready for an attack but none came so he asked another question, "And what might my darkest mentality be?"

The clone yelled at the top of its lungs, "Your blood lust!"

With that, the clone made a mad dash with its claws outstretched. Terror Tooth was just barely able to block the attack and decided that he had gotten enough information. If he wanted to make it out of the fight alive, then he was going to have to fight for his life. The two of them began to exchange blows and had a dogfight that would have made the Wonderbolt's jaws drop. Terror Tooth knew that he had to get his newly found information to the rest of his comrades as soon as possible. He believed that if they were to know the entire thought process of their enemy, then they would have the upper hoof against them. So, with his new goal in mind, he began to perform his areal acrobatics that made him so famous in the Capital. He expertly dodged and blocked his clones attacks as he made his way to the one who he believed would do the most with the information that he was about to present, Knight Mare. He thanks Celestia and Pinkiepie for the excellent wing guards that he had. With their added protection, it was a lot easier to deflect the oncoming attacks. He saw Knight mare was almost within shouting distance and pushed himself to close the gap as soon as possible.

* * *

Knight Mare was having her own issues. Once the fight had begun, the rest of the clones made a mad dash for their counterparts and fought each other. Her clone, however, was not interested in fighting her off. Instead, her clone was was launching missile after missile at Dragonshy. It took Knight Mare's complete focus to deflect them before they made contact. This infuriated Knight Mare to no end because she knew the spell that she had to use in order to get rid of the clones. While she had been with Twilight, they had referenced some old spells that Twilight had experience with and she had come across a spell that sent doppelgangers back from wince they came. All it would take would be one shot but Knight Mare was sure that, if her clone managed to his Dragonshy, then he would be put off long enough for his clone to take him out.

This dragged on for a while until Knight Mare heard Terror Tooth call out to her, "Knight Mare! I have some interesting information about our foes!"

Still making sure to block all her clones abilities, she strained herself to answer back, "Well spit it out, I'm a little preoccupied!"  
Terror Tooth struggled to circle around and clerify with his clone still hot on his trail, "Each of our clones are manifestations of our darkest desires!"

Knight Mare knew that Terror Tooth was on to something so she quickly placed a barrier around her clone. The barrier was strong but would only hold her clone for a few moments. She had been saving this spell for an emergency since she had to wait a long time before she would be able to use it again. With her clone charging its counter-spell, Knight Mare opened up a telepathy connection with all her allies in the cavern. She set it up so that they would all hear, inside their heads, what Terror Tooth was yelling to her.

Once she was ready, she yelled to Terror Tooth, "Explain!"

Terror Tooth had been preparing to circle around this time, and managed to get back within yelling distance quickly, "Meaning that all the clones are obsessed with one thing! If you can figure out what they are obsessed over, then you can exploit it and use it to defeat them!"

Knight Mare made sure to ask one more question before he got to far away, "How do you propose that we figure that out?!"

Terror Tooth shouted behind him and his voice trailed as he picked up speed and flew higher up, "Their obsession is your darkest desire!"

Just as he finished, her clone broke the barrier and immediately resumed firing at Dragonshy. Knight Mare blocked each shot while desperately trying to figure out what her clone could be obsessed with. It did not take long for a thought to come to her mind. She quickly prepared herself to test the theory. She launched to spells in quick succession. One of them blocked the one her clone had shot and the other hit Dragonshy's clone. Because she had fired them off so quickly, they were very weak spells so the clone didn't really react to being hit. Her clone, however, ceased her fire turned to Knight Mare. Knight Mare saw the burning hatred in her clone's eyes and knew that he suspicion had been correct. Her clone was obsessed with Dragonshy.

The clone's horn glowed dangerously bright and it yelled at her, "Don't ever touch him!"

Knight mare focused her energy through the amulet that Twilight had given her and sent a beam of magic into the massive missile to detonate it before it hit her. Bow she was in a fight that was in her favor. Her opponent was focused on her and blinded by rage. The clone summoned a huge volley of magic arrows around itself. With a flick of its head, the arrows flew at Knight Mare. Knight Mare just summoned her force field from her armor. The force field was not too strong but neither were the arrows. In its rage, the clone seemed to have forgotten that the more spells you use at once, the weaker they are. While she had the time, Knight Mare charged her magic and let it all loose in one blast. The beam of pure energy broke through her own barrier and made contact with her clone in less than a second. There was a massive explosion and the clone was sent flying backwards. Knight Mare fell to her knees in exhaustion. That spell had taken a lot of energy. She needed to take a rest to recharge.

* * *

The stallions were having a difficult time dealing with their clones. As it turns out, their clones also wanted to fight as a group so it had turned into an all out brawl. They had been in the Equestrian Navy so they knew how to fight but it was a very physical why of fighting. They had charged each other and met the opposition head on. The fell over each other and did their best to fight the right ones. It did not take long for them to get confused as to who was who, but they fought on. There was punching, kicking, biting, and other various forms of physical contact being thrown at either side. Each side already knew their obsession and each side willingly gave into it. They just wanted to finish off their opponents so that they could go and make sure that Viñyl was ok.

They had been going at it for a while and eventually broke up and separated to catch their breathe. They had been able to distinguish the clones form the real ones and turned it into a stare down. Both sides were tired and out of breathe so they both waited for the other to make the first move. Just as Hugo's clone stepped forward, a beam of magic hit it and it evaporated into thin air. They all looked to where the magic had originated to see Knight Mare with smoking coming from her horn and taking deep breathes. She was obviously exhausted.

She took another pained breathe and said just lud enough for them to hear, "Don't take another step..."

The clones knew that she was just trying to stall for her to build up enough energy to blast the both of them as well. They figured that their only chance was to run to the real Bruno and Maxie to try and confuse her. They took off at a sprint and Knight Mare desperately took another shot. It made contact with the fake Maxie and sent him to oblivion but the fake Bruno made it to the other side. He was met with a rough kick to the face, sending him sprawling backwards. This gave Knight Mare enough time to blast him into nothingness as well. After this third shot, Knight Mare collapsed again. She was normally able to cast spell after spell with ease but it seemed as though her power source was weak. This though scared her since that meant it would be weak for the rest of her comrades as well. The stallions took a quick glance at Viñyl and her clone. They saw that all her clone was doing was laying flat and not doing anything. So the decided to establish a perimeter around the unconscious Knight Mare and make sure she was safe until she woke up.

* * *

Renegade had been having a stand off with his clone the entire time. His clone did not look angry, nor did it look determined. Renegade could see no evil in his clone.

Eventually the clone sighed and said, "You know we heard your Knight Mare's telepathy as well. I guess we're connected in that way."

Renegade answered as mono-toned as the clone had spoken, "That's interesting. I'll be sure to bring that up with her later. Now as for the issue at hand..."

The clone looked to the ceiling in though and responded, "I know I'm supposed to fight you. I have the feeling that I should. But let em tell you what your darkest desire is. It's questioning your purpose. All your life you have had no idea who you were or what you were supposed to be doing. That's why you did so well in the military, all your orders were given to you. I know that I am meant to kill you but I am wondering what would be the benefit of that. I would go back to just being another grunt in the army. But I have your memories of Ponyville and of the life outside this Capital. I... We have finally realised that there is a life out there that is better for us. I'm not going to fight you, I don't see much point."

The real Renegade knew everything that the clone had said was true and decided to believe him, "Listen, you know as well as I do that Celestia is a surprisingly understanding pony. I'm sure that if you help me and my friends here, then she'll let you stay with us in Ponyville."

The clone smiled and said, "I'm glad we both had the same idea."

The two of them ran to the closest group which was the stallions protecting Knight Mare. When They got there, they saw that there was nothing really going on at that particular spot. They also noticed that the stallions were staring at the ceiling. They looked up to see what was so interesting and were genuinely amazed at what they saw. There was Terror Tooth, desperately fighting his clone. What was amazing were the acrobatics that the two of them were pulling off. Because of the lethality of their claws, this fight would be over after one good swipe. So the two Terror Tooths were forced to dodge and block every attack in order to stay alive. One false move would end the fight in an instant. Renegade's clone tapped him on the shoulder. Renegade looked to where the clone had been pointing and saw another fantastic sight. He saw two black and green dragons fighting to the death. He knew that these were the two Dragonshies.

* * *

Viñyl and Octavia were taken aback by the fact that her clone looked so weak. The fake Octavia had no idea what to do. Octavia and Viñyl only knew how to fight as a team so, without Viñyl's clone, Octavia's clone was defenseless.

After a while, Viñyl decided that they should just get rid of them before they turned into a problem so she whispered to Octavia, "Where's your Cello?"

Octavia whispered back, "Over there, behind them."

Viñyl saw it and teleported it into Octavia's forelegs.

Octavia quickly put bow to string and asked, "Ready?"

She did not wait for a response and played a quick 'high E'. Viñyl strengthened the short burst of sound to the point that it became a missile. The fake Octavia was blasted to pieces but the fake Viñyl was no where to be seen once the smoke cleared. They looked around for where it might have gone but they did not see it. When they were looking around, Viñyl felt this surge of energy course through her. It was a tremendous power that she could barely contain. She looked to the others and saw that the other changelings were experiencing the same thing.

Renegade felt this power and asked out loud, "What is this?"

Knight Mare began to sit up, "I've felt this sort of power before. It is like when those six ponies from Ponyville used the elements of harmony but it's different. What else could be giving us this power?"

Renegade thought for a moment and his clone asked, "Are you guys still linked with Princess Cadance?"

Knight Mare's ears perked up, "Probably, why?"

Renegade's clone said, "I'm getting mental alerts from the battle over in Canterlot of Princess Cadance vanquishing Queen Chrysalis with a powerful aura even greater than that of Princess Celestia."

Knight Mare breathed a sigh of relief, "Well that's good to hear. Now we know that they are ok over there."

With the added energy provided by the aura, Terror Tooth and Dragonshy were able to take the upper hoof in their fights. They were turning the tides and taking over their fights.

They almost won when a blast of magic hit them both, knocking them away from their clones. Dragonshy looked to see who had hit him and saw that it had been Knight Mare's clone. Terror Tooth looked at who had hit him and it was non other than Viñyl's clone. With not a moment to spare, all the clones that were still alive grouped with Viñyl's clone.

The clone spoke but not with Viñyl's voice, with Captain Fear's, "Well I must thank you for releasing me from that terrible body that I was stuck in. Because I was technically the darkest thing within Viñyl, I was manifested into her clone. Lucky me."

Overcome with anger, Dragonshy launched himself at the group of ponies. Knight Mare's clone quickly put up a barrier, blocking Dragonshy from making contact.

Captain Fear said mockingly, "So sorry that your revenge plan did not go over as well as you had hoped, Draco. But don't worry, I'm not finished with you. Come now, clones, I have the perfect plan against Draco. I know what will hurt him most. Prepare teleportation, Knight Mare," As Knight Mare's clone began charging, Captain Fear added, "If I were, I'd hurry home..."

With that, he was gone leaving Dragonshy in a fit of rage. Their entire adventure had been for nothing and now they needed to hurry back to Ponyville as soon as possible. Dragonshy changed back to his pony form and turned to the ponies that were all staring at him.

He was tearing up and spoke through a coarse throat, "Charge up as much as you need, Knight Mare! We need to get to Ponyville now!"

Knight Mare was still tired and needed a several hours to rest before she would be able to teleport such a large group so far away. They would have to wait until she was ready before they could give chase.


End file.
